The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for November 18, 2022
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
BallotPedia – 2022 ballot measure election results
Connecticut General Assembly – RESOLUTION APPROVING AN AMENDMENT TO THE STATE
CONSTITUTION TO ALLOW FOR EARLY VOTING
CT Insider – Connecticut passed early voting. What happens next?
BallotPedia – Connecticut Question 1, Allow for Early Voting Amendment (2022)
BallotPedia – Arizona Proposition 309, Voter Identification Requirements for Mail-In Ballots and In-Person Voting Measure (2022)
Arizona Daily Star – Proposition 309 requiring stricter voter ID rules failing
KPNX Arizona – Ballot proposition 211 passes, setting limits on dark money use in campaigns
BallotPedia – Ohio Issue 2, Citizenship Voting Requirement Amendment (2022)
Today’s Script:Â (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)Â
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Besides big citizen initiative wins in Nevada and Michigan, ballot measures in Connecticut and Arizona were also consequential wins for Democracy for early voting, disclosing dark money, and the narrow defeat of a measure which could have made it more difficult to vote.
Connecticut voters changed the state’s constitution to allow for early voting, but without a specific number of days. The measure, which passed 60% to 40%, will be fleshed out by the legislature. BallotPedia reports that until this year, Connecticut was one of only six states which did not have some form of early voting.
In Arizona, multiple democracy measures were on the ballot. Proposition 309, which would have required a government-issued voter ID number in addition to photo ID when voting by mail, was defeated by less than 1% of the vote.
Voters resoundingly approved Arizona Proposition 211, which adds dark money disclosure requirements for any group spending $50,000 or more on statewide races to disclose any contributor who gave $5,000 or more. Dark money comes from limited liability corporations and certain types of non-profits which previously have not been required to disclose donors.
Nebraska voters passed a voter ID bill, and Ohio voters will prohibit noncitizens and unqualified voters from voting in elections – which they can’t do under current law.
We have links to articles on all of these initiatives at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.