The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 30, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

We have important updates for three consequential voting rights cases we’ve been following in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia, just a week before the November 2024 election. 

October 28th, the Republican National Committee appealed a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision allowing voters whose mail ballot secrecy envelopes were missing or unsealed, to vote by provisional ballot instead. The RNC asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency ruling, claiming Pennsylvania’s high court overstepped the legislature’s authority over election law.  The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet responded.

The Nevada Independent reports that Oct. 28th, the state supreme court upheld a ruling that mail-in ballots without postmarks received within three days after election day must be counted.   Republicans appealed the decision, arguing the lower court misread the law.  The majority said the appeal was too close to the election, and wrote:  “If a voter properly and timely casts their vote by mailing their ballot before or on the day of the election, and through a post office omission the ballot is not postmarked, it would go against public policy to discount that properly cast vote.”  

The Georgia Supreme Court October 22nd denied a Republican appeal to restore a Georgia state election board rule allowing county election board members to make a “reasonable inquiry” and obstruct certifying the election. The rule will NOT be in effect November 5th.

We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Pennsylvania Spotlight/AP – Republicans ask U.S. Supreme Court to block counting of some provisional ballots in Pa.
U.S. Supreme Court – Republican National Committee, et al., Applicants v. Faith Genser, et al.

ScotusBlog – Republicans ask Supreme Court to block decision to count Pennsylvania provisional ballots
Nevada Independent – Nevada Supreme Court rules non-postmarked ballots can be counted within 3 days of election
Georgia Recorder – Georgia Supreme Court delays ruling on controversial election board rules until after Nov. 5

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU PA,  PA Conference of the NAACP, Fair Fight Action, ACLU GA,  Common Cause GA, Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans

Check Your Voter Registration:

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
• Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
• Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
  
  

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotingRights #MailInBallots #Pennsylvania #Georgia #Nevada

The post Updates on Important Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia Voting Rights Decisions and Appeals Just Days Before the Election appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 29, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

Special Counsel Jack Smith submitted a revised criminal conspiracy indictment of former President Donald Trump Aug. 27th, adjusted to remove actions deemed “official acts” by the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority. 

Like the original indictment, Trump is charged with four felony counts in the U.S. District Court in DC:   Conspiracy to Defraud the United States; Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding; Obstruction of and an Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding; and Conspiracy Against Rights.  Removed in this version are charges related to Trump’s alleged manipulation of the U.S. Justice Department, to pressure state officials to change the outcome of the election, which the justices explicitly said was an “official” act.

Alleged “unofficial acts”, however, are still included, including: Knowingly deceiving the American public about the outcome of the election; attempting to pressure Georgia officials to “find” 11,780 votes; knowledge and support of the fake elector scheme; the attempt to pressure Vice President Mike Pence in his Constitutional but ceremonial role presiding over the certification; his speech at a privately-funded rally prior to the Capitol violence on January 6th; and attempting to “injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate” citizens’ rights under the U.S. Constitution.

No new trial date has been set, but it’s no longer feasible to try the former President prior to the election.   We have a link to the new indictment at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
U.S. Supreme Court – Presidential Powers – Presidential Immunity Opinion

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia – Revised Indictment in United States v. Donald J. Trump
SCOTUS Blog – Special Counsel Jack Smith revises indictment against Trump

The Hill – Smith files new indictment in Trump Jan. 6 case, adjusting for immunity decision

Groups Taking Action:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Campaign Legal Center, States United Democracy Center

Check Your Voter Registration:

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
• USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links
• Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
• Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
  
  

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #TrumpCriminalTrials #ElectionInterference #JackSmith

The post Special Counsel Submits Revised Criminal Conspiracy Indictment of Trump After SCOTUS Immunity Ruling on Presidential Powers appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 8, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

Today, we’re looking at a principle called the “Gingles Test” that federal courts use  when determining whether a gerrymandered redistricting map is a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.   How that test is interpreted can determine whether minority voters can elect the candidate of their choice, or their vote is diluted by an anti-voter state legislature.

A group of Black voters sued the North Carolina legislature in 1982, arguing their voting districts violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by diluting their vote and keeping Black North Carolinians from electing the candidate of their choice.   

Before it came to trial, Congress clarified the VRA to say intentional discrimination didn’t need to be proved, just the EFFECT of discrimination was enough to be a violation of Section 2.

Thornburg v. Gingles created a three part test for federal courts to use when considering whether a VRA violation had occurred.  It stipulates:

• The minority group is sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district;
• The minority group is politically cohesive, usually voting the same way; and 
• The white majority votes sufficiently as a bloc, usually defeating the minority’s preferred candidate.

As shown in the recent overturning of Louisiana’s new Congressional map with a second majority minority district, the interpretation of “geographically compact” and “politically cohesive” still leaves wiggle room for discrimination.  

We have more on Gingles and the VRA at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
BallotPedia – Thornburg v. Gingles
Charis Franklin, Fordham University Law – From Poll Tests To The Purcell Doctrine:  Merrill V. Milligan And The Precarious Preservation Of Voting Rights
The American Redistricting Project – Thornburg v. Gingles (1986)
Brennan Center for Justice – Breaking Down the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Decision Out of Alabama
Louisiana Illuminator – Federal court tosses Landry-backed Louisiana congressional map

Groups Taking Action:
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Campaign Legal Center, ACLU, Native American Rights Fund

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RacialGerrymandering #VotingRightsAct #VRA

The post What is the ‘Gingles Test’ and How Does it Impact Minority Voting Rights? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 12, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

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

We reported last October that 11 Michigan GOP legislators used the “Independent State Legislature” theory to challenge two Michigan ballot questions expanding voting rights.  A federal judge dismissed their case April 10th.

You’ll remember that the fringe ISL theory was used in a North Carolina case last year, with the state legislature arguing in Moore vs. Harper that it alone had the U.S. Constitutional authority to make election law.  The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that argument.  

In 2018, Michigan voters approved voting rights citizen ballot initiatives which established automatic voter registration, no-excuse absentee voting and same-day voter registration.   In 2022, voters approved another voting rights amendment which allowed drop boxes, established nine days of early voting and a permanent absentee list, among several democracy reforms.  They passed with approvals of 60% and 67%.

Eleven Michigan GOP senators and representatives objected, arguing they had the U.S. Constitutional right to cast a vote on such election laws and were harmed by the ballot initiatives.

Judge Jane Beckering did not rule on the validity of the ISL theory, but did concur with the state’s argument that the plaintiffs had no standing to bring the case.   The case was dismissed, but without prejudice, so ISL may still not be dead.

We have links to more on the case and why the ISL theory is dangerous at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Brennan Center for Justice – Moore v. Harper
BallotPedia – Michigan 2018 ballot measures
BallotPedia – Michigan 2022 ballot measures

American Democracy Minute – Just in Time for Halloween, Michigan Case Tries to Reanimate the Independent State Legislature Theory and Kill Democracy Reforms
U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN (via Democracy Docket) – JONATHAN LINDSEY v.  GRETCHEN WHITMER Opinion and Order
Michigan Department of Attorney General – Federal Court Rejects Lawsuit of 11 Republican State Legislators, Predicated on Independent State Legislature Theory
Michigan Advance – Federal judge rejects GOP lawmaker suit over state election laws
Democracy Docket – Revisiting Moore v. Harper and the Threats to Democracy

Groups Taking Action:
Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans,  Detroit Downriver A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Detroit Disability Power

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotingRights #MichiganPolitics  #DemocracyReform #DirectDemocracy #MoorevHarper

The post Michigan Case Which Used the ‘Independent State Legislature Theory’ to Challenge Voting Rights Ballot Questions is Thrown Out appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 27, 2023

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

Just in Time for Halloween, Michigan Case Tries to Reanimate the Independent State Legislature Theory and Kill Democracy Reforms

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

Just in time for Halloween, Michigan GOP legislators are attempting to reanimate the rejected Independent State Legislature theory to invalidate a voting rights citizen ballot initiative passed in 2022.   Haven’t we seen this horror movie before?

Michigan’s voters passed Proposition 2 with 60% of the vote in 2022. The citizen ballot initiative enshrined early voting, no excuse absentee, automatic voter registration, protections for poll workers from harassment and other reforms into the state constitution.   

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an argument by the North Carolina legislature in Moore v. Harper that a fringe interpretation of the U.S. Constitution allowed it complete control of election law – trumping gubernatorial vetoes and the courts.   Democracy Docket reports that Michigan GOP legislators are arguing in federal district court that the Prop 2 citizen ballot initiative undermined the power of the Michigan legislature and must be invalidated.

They are further asking the court to prohibit any future citizen initiatives which regulate “the time, place, and manner of federal elections,” a role granted to state legislatures in the Elections Clause.  

While the case is not likely to go far, there are members of the U.S. Supreme Court who embraced the ISL theory, and may like to consider a related case. We’ll keep watch for the monster behind the door. 

Find the case and analysis at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – Using Rejected ISL Theory, Michigan Republicans Challenge Voter-Approved Constitutional Amendments 
U.S. District Court via Democracy Docket –  LINDSEY v. WHITMER
BallotPedia – Michigan Proposal 2, Voting Policies in Constitution Amendment (2022)
Brennan Center for Justice – The ‘Independent State Legislature Theory,’ Explained
Center for American Progress – How Michigan Became a Blueprint for Strengthening Democracy

Groups Taking Action:
Promote the Vote, ACLU Michigan, League of Women Voters MI, American Promise MI

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #MichiganPolitics #VoterSuppression #MoorevHarper
#IndependentStateLegislature #Proposition2

The post Just in Time for Halloween, Michigan Case Tries to Reanimate the Independent State Legislature Theory and Kill Democracy Reforms appeared first on American Democracy Minute.