The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for January 17, 2023

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

As we prepared this report on Martin Luther King Day, disturbing news has surfaced which demonstrates just how active and coordinated efforts are by prominent conservative groups to suppress the vote.

to suppress the vote still are among prominent conservative groups.

January 13th, the Guardian and its partner Documented released a report from Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation. The report provides a look into the creation of boiler-plate voter suppression legislation shared among state legislators to restrict voting around the country. This legislation was aimed at liberal-leaning voters of color and users of mail-in ballots in swing states.

To aid the passage of this legislation, Heritage Action staff lobbied in at least twelve states in 2021, according to the Guardian/Documented reporting, part of a two-year, $24 Million dollar QUOTE “Election Integrity” plan. One third of the voting legislation filed in Georgia in 2021 was tied to Heritage Action, according to the New York Times.

In separate reporting by Urban Milwaukee, an appointed member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission bragged in an email that QUOTE “we can be especially proud of the City of Milwaukee casting 37,000 less votes than cast in the 2018 election with the major reduction happening in the overwhelming Black and Hispanic areas.” He continued, “…this great and important decrease in Democrat votes in the City” was due to a “well thought out multi-faceted plan.”

We have links to articles and the Heritage Action report at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.