The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 17, 2025

In 2024, a ballot measure to replace Ohio’s dysfunctional politician-led redistricting process with an independent citizen-led process had its description rewritten by state officials to sink it.  Now, Ohio officials are trying to sink two more measures they don’t like, and the U.S. Supreme Court is now involved. 

Some background.  Ohio’s “fair & truthful” ballot measure requirements allows the state to modify a ballot measure’s description to make it accurate for voters.  But can it use that authority to manipulate the process and block citizens from moving their ballot measure forward?

Organizers tried for two years to get the language okayed to gather signatures for the “Protecting Ohioans’ Constitutional Rights” measure, giving citizens the private right to sue the state and removing the “qualified immunity” that police and government officials are currently given.  

While organizers have acted in good faith, Federal District Court Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost found fault and rejected the proposed amendment language EIGHT TIMES, and found the reasons “dubious.” The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that Ohio was restricting the organizers’ speech and must approve the measure’s description.

But April 9th, Yost appealed to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh for an emergency stay of the 6th Circuit’s order, which Kavanugh immediately granted despite the sketchy circumstances. We’ll continue to watch this situation.  We have the 6th Circuit’s decision at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Statehouse News Bureau – Group behind qualified immunity amendment sues Ohio Attorney General over latest rejection
Ohio Attorney General –  Unapproved language of  “Protecting Ohioans’ Constitutional Rights” measure 

6th Circuit Court of Appeals –  Opinion in Brown v. Yost
U.S. Supreme Court – Yost’s Application to Justice Brett Kavanaugh for Emergency Stay
U.S. Supreme Court – Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s order, staying the 6th Circuit
Courthouse News Service – Supreme Court keeps Ohio’s qualified immunity ballot initiative on ice

Groups Taking Action:

Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, 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 #Ohio #BallotMeasure #Suppression #DaveYost 

The post State of Ohio Embroiled in Another Fight Over Manipulating Citizen Ballot Initiatives It Doesn’t Like.  Now the U.S. Supreme Court is Involved. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 15, 2025

Brian is traveling today, so we’re rebroadcasting a piece from last December.  As predicted, the Utah legislature has introduced two bills to make it harder to pass citizen ballot initiatives.

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.

As voters turn to ballot initiatives to bypass extreme legislatures, legislatures are manipulating initiative rules to protect their partisan power.  Expect more such attacks on direct democracy in 2025.

In 2024 alone, 10 reproductive rights measures qualified for the ballot, with only two failing, in Nebraska, and Florida.  Another passed in Ohio in 2023.   

Not willing to let extreme agendas get overridden by those pesky voters, legislatures are trying to de-fang direct democracy by trying to raise constitutional amendment thresholds to 60% or higher, and requiring minimum numbers of qualifying signatures from each county, rather than a statewide percentage. To keep Ohio voters from passing abortion protections in 2023, the legislature proposed a 60% threshold, using a low-turnout August special election it had deemed too expensive to run.  It lost, and abortion rights prevailed four months later.   In 2024, the Ohio Secretary of State helped derail a citizen-led redistricting measure by rewriting its ballot description to mislead voters.

The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center reports there were three 2024 measures attacking direct democracy.  Arizonans voted down a measure requiring minimum signatures from every county, and another allowing a pre-election litigation on measures.  North Dakota would have raised the signatures required, and winning both a primary AND a general election.  It, too, failed.    

Expect more such attacks on direct democracy in 2025.  Find more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Utah Dispatch – Utah lawmakers move to set higher bar for ballot initiatives — but voters will have a say in 2026

American Democracy Minute – (2023) Ohio Legislature Forcing Through Restoration of Aug. 8th Election to Pass Hurdles for Citizen Ballot Initiatives & Block Potential Abortion Rights Measure
American Democracy Minute – (2023) Ohio Voters Defeat Republican Effort to Raise Citizen Ballot Initiative Passage to 60% in Pro-Voter Victory
Route 50 – States look to rein in ballot initiatives with more ballot initiatives
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center – 2024 Election Results

KFF – Outcome of Abortion-Related State Constitutional Amendment Measures in the 2024 Election
Reuters – Florida, two other states defy trend and vote down abortion rights
State Court Report – Direct Democracy Under Attack 

Groups Taking Action:

Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, League of Women Voters US, Common Cause US

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #DirectDemocracy #FreedomtoVote #WethePeople

The post Citizen Ballot Initiatives Help Voters Bypass Extreme Legislatures.  But Expect More Attempts to Block Those Initiatives in 2025 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 6, 2025

In 2018, Utah voters approved a ballot initiative establishing an independent redistricting commission to create fair voting districts.   The legislature neutralized it, and gerrymandered the maps anyway.  It’s now back before a Utah judge.

Better Boundaries Proposition 4 established a commission independent from the legislature charged with creating fair, communities of interest-driven maps for Congress, state legislature, and school districts.  The Utah News Dispatch reports that in 2020, the Utah legislature passed SB 200, which made the commission advisory, not independent, then gerrymandered the maps to protect seats and consolidate GOP power.  

The Utah Supreme Court found for the voters last July, agreeing that the legislature did not have the authority under state law to override the voters’ decision.  In response, the legislature proposed Amendment D, which, if approved by voters, would give the legislature power to do so. The language of that proposition was deemed deceptive by the court, and ruled “void.” 

Now the case is back in Utah’s 3rd District Court, where Judge Dianna Gibson heard three hours of testimony January 31st.  The League of Women Voters and Mormon Women for Ethical Government argued for the independent commission’s powers to be fully restored, and fair Congressional maps put in place.  A decision is expected within weeks.

We have our past reports, local reporting, court filings, and the groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Script

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – Utah Voters Fought Back After Their Fair Voting Districts Constitutional Amendment was Gutted by an Anti-Voter Legislature.  They Won.
Utah Supreme Court –  LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF UTAH, et al., v. UTAH STATE LEGISLATURE
American Democracy Minute – After Losing in Court and at the Polls, Utah Legislature Approves Nov. Ballot Measure to Veto or Alter Citizen Ballot Measures to Protect Its Power
Campaign Legal Center – Utahns Score Huge Victory Voiding Amendment D
Utah News Dispatch – Will Utah get new congressional maps? Judge hears oral arguments in Utah redistricting case

Groups Taking Action:

League of Women Voters UT, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Campaign Legal Center

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #UtahLegislature #EndGerrymandering #FairMaps

The post Will Utah’s Voter-Approved Independent Redistricting Commission and Fair Maps Prevail Over the Legislature’s Attempt to Rig Them?  appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 1, 2025

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.

January 3rd, 83-year-old Vermonter Rick Hubbard and his Walking to Fix Our Democracy supporters walk the remaining 12 miles into Washington, DC, completing a more than 3,100 mile walk across the U.S.  He wants to deliver this simple message to the new Congress:  “Do Your Job.” 

Hubbard started walking in Pasadena, CA in October 2022, suspending it when his life partner’s cancer returned. Resuming in late 2023, he walked an average of 10 miles a day during 300 days of walking.  

Hubbard says that Americans of all political leanings know that our system is broken.  He said they recognize that most elected representatives are more interested in satisfying their campaign donors and following party agendas than their oath to “provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.”

“We CAN have an economy based on capitalism, that spreads its benefits broadly among us all,” Hubbard said. “Our elected representatives CAN, if they do their job, structure a healthcare system that provides high-quality healthcare to every one of us, at the lowest system-wide total cost, for the common good. But they don’t.”   

Among the reforms Hubbard supports to make the political system fairer, more inclusive, more competitive and more representative, include open primaries, ranked choice voting and small donor funded-elections.   

Details on joining the January 3rd walk can be found at FixOurDemocracy.Us, or linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Walking to Fix Our Democracy – Join Final Day’s Walk to U.S. Capitol
WCAX – Vermont man on journey ‘Walking to Fix our Democracy’

Walking to Fix Our Democracy – Podcast #4 – To enact a healthcare system where all 330+ million Americans can receive high quality health care at the lowest system-wide cost
Brennan Center for Justice – Small Donor Public Financing Explained
PBS NewsHour – How open primaries and ranked-choice voting can help break partisan gridlock

Groups Taking Action:
Walking to Fix Our Democracy, Common Cause, Represent.Us, Public Citizen, Declaration for American Democracy

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FixDemocracy #RickHubbard #DemocracyReform

The post 83-Year-Old Rick Hubbard Finishes a 3,100-Mile Walk to Washington, DC on January 3rd to Deliver This Message to the New Congress:  “Do Your Job” appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 24, 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.

As voters turn to ballot initiatives to bypass extreme legislatures, legislatures are manipulating initiative rules to protect their partisan power.  Expect more such attacks on direct democracy in 2025.

In 2024 alone, 10 reproductive rights measures qualified for the ballot, with only two failing, in Nebraska, and Florida.  Another passed in Ohio in 2023.   

Not willing to let extreme agendas get overridden by those pesky voters, legislatures are trying to de-fang direct democracy by trying to raise constitutional amendment thresholds to 60% or higher, and requiring minimum numbers of qualifying signatures from each county, rather than a statewide percentage. To keep Ohio voters from passing abortion protections in 2023, the legislature proposed a 60% threshold, using a low-turnout August special election it had deemed too expensive to run.  It lost, and abortion rights prevailed four months later.   In 2024, the Ohio Secretary of State helped derail a citizen-led redistricting measure by rewriting its ballot description to mislead voters.

The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center reports there were three 2024 measures attacking direct democracy.  Arizonans voted down a measure requiring minimum signatures from every county, and another allowing a pre-election litigation on measures.  North Dakota would have raised the signatures required, and winning both a primary AND a general election.  It, too, failed.    

Expect more such attacks on direct democracy in 2025.  Find more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (2023) Ohio Legislature Forcing Through Restoration of Aug. 8th Election to Pass Hurdles for Citizen Ballot Initiatives & Block Potential Abortion Rights Measure
American Democracy Minute – (2023) Ohio Voters Defeat Republican Effort to Raise Citizen Ballot Initiative Passage to 60% in Pro-Voter Victory
Route 50 – States look to rein in ballot initiatives with more ballot initiatives
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center – 2024 Election Results

KFF – Outcome of Abortion-Related State Constitutional Amendment Measures in the 2024 Election
Reuters – Florida, two other states defy trend and vote down abortion rights
State Court Report – Direct Democracy Under Attack 

Groups Taking Action:

Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, League of Women Voters US, Common Cause US

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #DirectDemocracy #FreedomtoVote #WethePeople

The post Citizen Ballot Initiatives Help Voters Bypass Extreme Legislatures.  But Expect More Attempts to Block Those Initiatives in 2025 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.