Georgia is preparing to purge an estimated 500,000 of its voters in 2025 – 6% of those registered, employing recommendations from ERIC and other sources. Of those, and estimated 100,000 will be purged not because they’ve moved, but because they haven’t voted recently, under Georgia’s ”use it or lose it” law.
The post Georgia Prepares to Purge a Half Million Voters – 6% of Its Voter Rolls. Even if You Haven’t Moved, You Can Be Purged Just For Not Voting. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
]]>The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 2, 2024
Voter list maintenance is a part of our election system. People die, change their names, or move out of state. Local, state and county officials use sophisticated voter registration data services such as ERIC, the Electronic Registration Information Center, to aid them, or less effectively, agreements with nearby states and other internal software.
Georgia is preparing to purge an estimated 500,000 of its voters in 2025 – 6% of those registered, employing recommendations from ERIC and other sources. Of those, and estimated 100,000 will be purged not because they’ve moved, but because they haven’t voted recently, under Georgia’s ”use it or lose it” law. Voters who have not voted for five years are put on an “inactive list.” Then, if there’s no contact with election officials in 9 years and two presidential cycles, those voters are purged from the rolls.
Election officials typically notify voters by mail of such actions. But several studies have found that since the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder Voting Rights Act decision, purges sometimes target urban communities of color, as found in Ohio’s 2024 purge and a study of 2014 to 2018 purges in Michigan.
Anti-voter legislatures are doubling down, shortening the “use it or lose it” window, and allowing purges closer to the election. More on those tactics in an upcoming report.
We have links to more on the purge in Georgia and other states at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Brennan Center for Justice – (2018) Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote
States News – (2019) The Messy Politics of Voter Purges
Savannah Tribune – Georgia Set to Purge 100K Voters Under “Use It or Lose It” Law
Brennan Center for Justice – (2024) Attacks on Voter Rolls and How to Protect Them
NBC News 21 – Do Voter Purges Discriminate Against the Poor and Minorities?
Ohio Capital Journal – (2024) Ohio’s voter purge “disproportionately targets voters of color”, civil rights organizations say
Michigan State University – New MSU Research Sheds Light on Impact and Bias of Voter Purging in Michigan
Groups Taking Action:
Legal Defense Fund, The Voter Purge Project, Campaign Legal Center
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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#Democracy #DemocracyNews #VoterPurge #Georgia #VoterSuppression
The post Georgia Prepares to Purge a Half Million Voters – 6% of Its Voter Rolls. Even if You Haven’t Moved, You Can Be Purged Just For Not Voting. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
]]>The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments March 24th in Louisiana v. Callais, in one of the most important voting rights cases of the year. Voting Rights Act rules allowing minority Americans to elect the candidate of their choice hang in the balance.
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]]>The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 24, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments March 24th in Louisiana v. Callais, in one of the most important voting rights cases of the year. Voting Rights Act rules allowing minority Americans to elect the candidate of their choice hang in the balance.
We’ve followed this case in multiple courtrooms since 2022, after the Louisiana legislature racially gerrymandered its voting districts to dilute Black voting power. Louisiana’s population is 33% Black, but in only one Congressional district out of six could Black voters have a realistic chance of electing a candidate of their choice.
The Voting Rights Act Section 2 rules allow for majority minority districts to be drawn, and such districts have been created for African American, Hispanic and Native American districts. But in Louisiana v. Callais, a group of QUOTE “non-African-American individuals” appealed two court-ordered majority minority districts, claiming the districts were discriminatory and unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have consistently opposed exceptions for minority groups. What is unclear is whether the rest of the conservative majority will join them to strike down more of the Voting Rights Act Section 2 rules. The outcome could result in seismic changes in protections for minority voters around the country.
Oral arguments begin at 10 AM Eastern , and we have a link to the audio live stream from AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – Majority-Minority Voting Districts Give Minority Voters a Fair Chance to Elect Proper Representation. The Equal Protection Clause is Now Being Used to Try to End Them
SCOTUS Blog – Effort to block second majority-Black district in Louisiana comes to Supreme Court
Brennan Center for Justice – (2024) Black Louisianians Fight in Court to Preserve Fair Voting Map
U.S. Supreme Court – BRIEF OF ALABAMA AND 12 OTHER STATES
American University Law Review – (2024) The Twists and Turns of A Map that Captured National Attention – Robinson v. Callais
American Redistricting Project – Louisiana v. Callais
U.S. Supreme Court – Recorded Audio for Oral Arguments March 24, 10 AM
Groups Taking Action:
Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, ACLU of Louisiana
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
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#Democracy #DemocracyNews #Louisiana #VoterSuppression #RacialGerrymandering #VotingRightsAct #SCOTUS #USSupremeCourt
The post US Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments March 24th in Louisiana v. Callais with Protections for Minority Voters Hanging in the Balance appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
]]>Utah adopted universal mail-in voting in 2013, with no widespread misuse in its 12 years. March 6th, the GOP-dominated Utah legislature approved an amended bill to end it in 2029, despite 76% of state voters supporting it.
The post Utah Legislature Passes 2029 End to Its Popular Universal Mail-In Voting System, Replacing it With an Opt-In List & More ID appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
]]>The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 19, 2025
Utah adopted universal mail-in voting in 2013, with no widespread misuse in its 12 years. March 6th, the GOP-dominated Utah legislature approved an amended bill to end it in 2029, despite 76% of state voters supporting it.
HB 300 was even more draconian just weeks ago, requiring voters to return their ballot in person so ID could be shown. Such a move would have ended the convenience voters like about mail-in voting, and created a burden for rural and Native American voters, who might live hours from a polling place.
The Utah News Dispatch reports the amended bill phases out universal mail-in voting in 2029, rather than immediately. But in the interim, voters must obtain state-issued voting ID by 2026, and provide four digits from that ID, with signature matching as a backup. The voting ID would be free only to those proving they can’t afford it.
In 2029, voters can opt-in to a semi-permanent 8-year vote-by-mail list, and election officials would rely only on the voting ID number for identification. Voters could opt in at the DMV, polling places, or the state’s voter portal. The bill also extends the ballot return deadline to 8 pm on election day.
Replacing universal mail-in voting is expected to cost taxpayers $6 million dollars annually. Gov. Spencer Cox is likely to sign it.
We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Utah News Dispatch – (2024) Deep red Utah wants to keep voting by mail
Utah News Dispatch – Utah Legislature approves bill to require voter ID, phase out automatic voting by mail by 2029
Salt Lake Tribune – Universal vote by mail is popular in Utah. GOP lawmakers continue to move away from it in a revised bill.
Associated Press – Deep-red Utah embraced voting by mail. Then came 2020.
Deseret News – (2024) New poll: Three-quarters of Utah voters confident in vote by mail system
Utah House of Representatives – Fiscal Note – HB 300
Groups Taking Action:
Rural Utah Project, League of Women Votes UT
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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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 #Utah #VotebyMail #HB300
The post Utah Legislature Passes 2029 End to Its Popular Universal Mail-In Voting System, Replacing it With an Opt-In List & More ID appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
]]>If you were an Irish Catholic immigrant in the1840s through the 1920s, many of your Protestant fellow Americans, some of whom joined the xenophobic Know Nothing Party, tried to suppress your vote.
The post If You Were an Irish Catholic Immigrant in the 1850s, the Xenophobic ‘Know Nothing’ Party Tried to Suppress Your Vote appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
]]>The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 18, 2025
How quickly we forget. If you were an Irish Catholic immigrant in the1840s through the 1920s, many of your Protestant fellow Americans, some of whom joined the xenophobic Know Nothing Party, tried to suppress your vote.
A famine in Ireland and economic instability in Germany saw millions of immigrants coming to America beginning in the 1820s. According to Smithsonian Magazine, between 1845 and 1854, 2.9 million immigrants arrived, including an estimated one-quarter of Ireland’s entire population.
In cities like New York and Boston, the mostly Protestant American political elite, many descendants of immigrants themselves, saw Irish Catholics as a threat to their American culture. In 1849, the shadowy Know Nothing Party arose, a cross between a political party and a street gang, and grew to America’s first sizable third party. Historian Jay P. Dolan found the Know Nothings elected 8 governors, 100 Congressmen and several mayors. Abraham Lincoln wrote, “When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘all men are created equal, except negroes and foreigners and Catholics.’
They proposed a 21-year wait time for foreign-born immigrants to vote, tried to ban Catholics and foreigners from holding office, and intimidated immigrants, even deporting 300 Irish immigrants back to Liverpool.
But Irish immigrants, when they could vote, voted in higher numbers. By the 1880s, they became a political force in Boston, New York, and Chicago.
We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Smithsonian Magazine – How the 19th-Century Know Nothing Party Reshaped American Politics
Villanova University – The Know Nothing Party
History Channel – When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century’s Refugee Crisis
Historic Ipswich – 1854: Anti-immigrant Know Nothing Party Sweeps Massachusetts Elections
NPR – (2019) With Latest Nativist Rhetoric, Trump Takes America Back To Where It Came From
UC Berkeley News – How Trump’s immigration policies compare to those of America’s past
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
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#Democracy #DemocracyNews #StPatricksDay #IrishAmericans #VoterSuppression
The post If You Were an Irish Catholic Immigrant in the 1850s, the Xenophobic ‘Know Nothing’ Party Tried to Suppress Your Vote appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
]]>Nevada Senate Bill 406, made it a felony to harass or intimidate election workers. In a federal appeals court March 7th, four right wing activists claimed that the law is too vague, and could allow THEM to be unfairly intimidated against participating in the election process.
The post Wait, What? Nevada Law Protecting Election Workers Challenged in Federal Appeals Court appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
]]>The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 13, 2025
Nevada Senate Bill 406, made it a felony to harass or intimidate election workers. In a federal appeals court March 7th, four right wing activists claimed that the law is too vague, and could allow THEM to be unfairly intimidated against participating in the election process.
SB 403, signed by Republican Governor Joe Lombardo in May 2023, was unanimously passed in both houses of the legislature after threats to Nevada election workers following the 2020 and 2022 elections. Under the new law, individuals who intend to interfere with the conduct of an election, or retaliate against election officials could face up to four years in prison. It also protects election workers from “doxing,” by disseminating their personal information.
The Reno Gazette Journal reports that plaintiffs used a 2020 social media post by Attorney General Aaron Ford to demonstrate that the law was too vague, and itself could be viewed as intimidation. Ford’s post read in part, “FYI — voter intimidation is illegal in Nevada. Believe me when I say it: You do it, and you will be prosecuted.”
The case, dismissed in federal circuit court for lack of evidence, is backed by wealthy election denier and plaintiff, Robert Beadles. Depending on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, it could be challenged further the U.S. Supreme Court.
We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Gov. Joe Lombardo – (2023) Governor Joe Lombardo, Secretary of State Francisco V. Aguilar sign Election Worker Protection Bill into law
Nevada Legislature – Text & Docket of SB 406
States News – (2023) In face of threats, election workers vow: ‘You are not disrupting the democratic process’
U.S. Dept. of Justice – Man Charged for Threatening Nevada State Election Worker
Brennan Center for Justice – (2023) Poll of Election Officials Shows High Turnover Amid Safety Threats and Political Interference
Nevada Current – (2022) Threats of voter intimidation, extremist violence cloud midterms
American Democracy Minute – States Increased Security in Election Offices and Polling Places, and Increased Penalties for Threatening or Harassing Election Officials
U.S. District Court – Decision in Challenge to SB 406
Reno Gazette Journal – 9th Circuit hears appeal over Nevada law to protect election workers from harassment
Groups Taking Action:
Issue One, Protect Democracy, Common Cause, Election Official Legal Defense Fund, Public Citizen
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 #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers #Nevada
The post Wait, What? Nevada Law Protecting Election Workers Challenged in Federal Appeals Court appeared first on American Democracy Minute.
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