The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 4, 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 state deadlines for voter registrations draw near, new registrations across the United States are down compared to 2024, according to political data and advertising firm TargetSmart. But there are increases in certain demographics compared with 2020.

TargetSmart used a combination of state data gathering and modeling, and found that 2024 new voter registrations 8 weeks from the election were 15.7 Million, down 42% from 27.3 Million in 2020.   The 2024 partisan lean model shows that 48.8% of those registering leaned Democratic, 34.3% Republican, and 16.9% unaffiliated.  In 2020, 46.7% leaned Democratic, 37.3% Republican, and 16% unaffiliated. 

Among those new 15.7 Million registered voters, there are increases in Black, Hispanic and Asian American Pacific Islanders, and a decrease in new White voters.  TargetSmart also found a slightly higher percentage of younger voters, though Tufts University’s CIRCLE youth voting research group  found increases in only 8 states.   

There was also a slightly lower percentage of women, although the organization found a surge of registrations among Black and Hispanic women after Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee. 

We’ve linked to TargetSmart’s report at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org, where you’ll also find nonpartisan resources where voters can register or check their registration.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
TargetSmart – Smart Voter Registration Dashboard

TargetSmart – Hispanic Voter Registration Surges After Harris Becomes Nominee

Tufts Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) – Youth Voter Registration Increasing; Still Lags Behind 2020

Groups Taking Action:

VOTE.org, Rock the Vote, Native Vote, Vote411, Mi Familia Vota, When We All Vote

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

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RegistertoVote #VoterRegistration 

The post As State Voter Registration Deadlines Draw Near, Data Suggests 2024 New Registrations Still Lagging Behind 2020 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 19, 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.

Voting in state and local elections is at risk for an estimated 97,000 longtime Arizona voters due to a proof of citizenship data tracking problem at the DMV.   

Three facts to start.  The Arizona Mirror and Votebeat report that Arizonans have had to provide proof of citizenship for driver’s licenses since 1996; state’s driver’s licenses aren’t routinely renewed until after age 65; and Arizona began requiring proof of citizenship for voting in 2005.  

Beginning in 2005, election officials asked existing voters with licenses issued before 1996 for proof of citizenship.  But if a driver’s license issued before 1996 needed to be replaced, it was given a new date of issue. Election officials then didn’t know to ask for citizenship documents for an estimated 97,000 voters.  

The Arizona Secretary of State announced the problem September 17th, and plans to move quickly, with mail ballots due to be mailed in less than a month.  

In addition to its “full ballot” with local, state and federal races, Arizona also has a “federal-only” ballot used by many Native Americans and students, who sometimes don’t have, or have available, citizenship documents.  Worst-case, the 97,000 affected voters could use the federal only ballot but the Secretary of State was advocating for allowing those voters to vote with the full ballot in November. 

We’ve linked to local reporting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Office of Governor Katie Hobbs – Governor Katie Hobbs Statement on Administrative Issue With AVID and Its Interface With MVD

Arizona Mirror/Votebeat – Error with tracking citizenship puts nearly 100,000 Arizona voters’ eligibility in limbo
KATR News – Interview with Maricopa County Recorder

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
  
  

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 #ArizonaNews #VoterRegistration

The post State Data Mistake Puts Voting in Local & State Elections at Risk for 97,000 Arizonans appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 9, 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.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 69.1% of Americans were registered to vote for the 2022 midterms, the highest number in over two decades. To register the other 30%, National Voter Registration Day is September 17th, and organizers hope community groups will help.   

Democracy reforms in pro-voter states like online voter registration and automatic registration at the DMV, have helped to raise the number of those registered.  But Pew Research found in 2022 that 62% of unregistered voters had never been asked to register.  Work is particularly among minority communities, where in 2022, 64.1% of Black voters were registered, 59.9% of Asian voters, and 57.8% of Hispanics.

National Voter Registration Day is a project sponsored by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and the National Associations of Election Officials, State Election Directors, and Secretaries of State, and scores of state and national nonprofit, civic and corporate organizations.  

The event is intended to drive unregistered citizens to local city & county election offices, or to voter registration drive locations like libraries, schools, food pantries and other key locations where allowed.  

Organizations wishing to participate and help register their fellow Americans are encouraged to visit NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org, and we’ve linked it from AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
National Voter Registration Day – How to Get Involved in National Voter Registration Day
U.S. Census Bureau – 2022 Voting and Registration Data
Pew Research – Why Are Millions of Citizens Not Registered to Vote?
Pew Research – Voter Demographics
U.S. Census Bureau – Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2022

Groups Taking Action:
National Voter Registration Day, U.S. Election Assistance Organization, National Association of Election Officials, National Association of State Election Directors, National Association of Secretaries of State

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
  
  

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 #VoteReady #VoterRegistration  #VoterRegistrationDay

The post National Voter Registration Day is Sept. 17 and Organizers Hope to Enlist More Nonprofit and Corporate Partners to Help appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 5, 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.

In a last-ditch effort to purge voters in swing state North Carolina, the GOP has sued the state election board in state superior court to examine the eligibility of 225,000 voters – just days before early voting begins.

The Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party are questioning the eligibility of voters who, when filling out a state voter registration form, did not include their driver’s license and last four Social Security digits because the form didn’t mark the fields as required.  The form was corrected in December 2023.

The GOP is demanding that the state elections board contact all 225,000 affected voters, but the board has refused, arguing that the challenge came too late,  and North Carolina’s stringent absentee and in-person voter ID requirements will mitigate any chance of illegal voting.  September 3rd, the Democratic National Committee asked to intervene in the case.   The federal Help America Vote Act stipulates that any voter registration purges must occur 90 days before the election.

Similar suits were filed in Pennsylvania and Arizona earlier this summer attempting to find registration flaws, and to root out registered noncitizens.  Noncitizen voter registration does infrequently happen, but very rarely results in noncitizens actually voting.   

As of early September, polling shows the Presidential race virtually tied in North Carolina.

We’ve linked local reporting and the groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
NC Newsline – NC Republicans seek a voter purge that would violate federal law
National Republican Committee (via Democracy Docket) – Complaint in NRC vs. NC State Board of Elections
Washington Examiner – Battleground ballots: First 2024 ballots to go out in North Carolina with election lawsuits in limbo

The Carolina Journal – DNC seeks to intervene in GOP lawsuit challenging 225,000 voter registrations
Democratic National Committee (via Carolina Journal) –  MOTION TO INTERVENE BY THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Groups Taking Action:

Democracy North Carolina, Common Cause NC, Enlace Latino NC

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
  
  

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 #NorthCarolina #VoterSuppression #VoterPurge

The post GOP Lawsuit Targets 225,000 Registered Voters in North Carolina Only Days Before Early Voting, and 11 Weeks Before the Election appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 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.

The choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Trump’s pick of Senator J.D. Vance raises a question for pro-democracy voters.  How do the VP candidates stand on democracy issues?

In his 2022 U.S. Senate primary, J.D. Vance embraced 2020 election fraud theories when he told the Youngstown, OH Vindicator, “There were certainly people voting illegally on a large-scale basis,” and repeated a conspiracy theory that Meta founder Mark Zuckerburg used election administration grants to manipulate the results.  He recently told the New York Times that the alternate slates of electors should have been debated in Congress.  Newsweek reported Vance HAS called for election day as a national holiday, widely supported by Americans, but as a tool to end mail-in voting. 

Earlier this year, Governor Tim Walz signed a bill including the Minnesota Voting Rights Act, restoring protections stripped from the federal 1965 VRA.  In 2023, he restored voting rights to 55,000 formerly incarcerated citizens and signed the Democracy for the People Act, establishing automatic voter registration, creating a standing mail-in voting list,pre-registering 16 and 17 year olds,  and requiring more disclosure of political advertising funders.  

Upon its signing, Walz said, “Democracy thrives when everyone’s voice is heard. Today, we’re ensuring a strong democracy by prioritizing accessibility and voter protections.”

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – Minnesota Takes More Big Steps in Expanding and Protecting the Right to Vote, Including Passing the Minnesota Voting Rights Act

American Democracy Minute – Minnesota Governor Signs “Democracy for the People Act” Enhancing Voting Access and Protections
VoteBeat – Vice president candidates present stark contrast on voting issues
Democracy Docket – Trump VP Pick JD Vance Has a History of Election Denialism and Anti-Voting Policies
NOTUS – JD Vance Insists He Has Trump’s Confidence
Newsweek – (2022) What J.D. Vance Has Said on Voter Fraud as Ohio Sets Mail-In Ballot Record
The Vindicator – Vance talks voter fraud, conspiracy

New York Times – (Possible paywall) What J.D. Vance Believes

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
  Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter 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 #TimWalz #JDVance #DemocracyReform 

The post How Do VP Candidates Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance Compare on Democracy Issues?   appeared first on American Democracy Minute.