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

Ignoring established federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned two lower court decisions and allowed Virginia to continue its purge of suspected registered non citizen voters. News outlets have since confirmed that eligible Virginia voters were among them. 

Virginia is the latest state which has pushed such purges without adequate investigation to support a national GOP narrative, sweeping up American-born and naturalized citizens in the process.  The National Voter Registration Act prohibits any purges within 90 days of an election.   Virginia Public Radio and NPR have already found eligible voters on the list who apparently check the wrong box at the DMV,  and now have had their registrations canceled. 

A similar purge of over 3,200 purported non citizens in Alabama was halted in federal district court in October.  Court documents showed over 2,000 of them were valid U.S. citizens and eligible voters.  In Texas, after Governor Abbott trumpeted that 6,500 non citizen voters would be purged, the Secretary of State’s office found only 581 were registered illegally, according to the Texas Tribune.

Even more alarming is the Supreme Court’s willingness to ignore established federal law and render a decision which at the very least has an appearance of partisanship, and worse, what that appearance could mean for post-election litigation.

We have local reporting, and links to confirm if you’re still a registered voter, at   AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Supreme Court – ORDER IN PENDING CASE –  BEALS, SUSAN, ET AL. V. VA COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, ET AL.
Virginia Mercury – U.S. Supreme Court grants stay in challenge to Youngkin’s voter purge order
NPR – U.S. citizens are among the voters removed in Virginia’s controversial purge
Slate – The Supreme Court Just Carved an Outrageous Loophole Into a Major Voting Rights Law
Brennan Center for Justice – Courts Confront the Noncitizen Voting Lie
Alabama Reflector – Federal judge blocks Alabama Secretary of State’s voter removal plan
Texas Tribune – Gov. Greg Abbott boasted that Texas removed 6,500 noncitizens from its voter rolls. That number was likely inflated.

Groups Taking Action:

Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, League of Women Voters VA, 

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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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VoterPurge #Virginia #SCOTUS #USSupremeCourt 

The post U.S. Supreme Court Allows Virginia to Purge of Alleged Non Citizen Voters Only Days Before the Election, Ignoring Established Federal Law. Eligible Voters Were on the List, Too. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 18, 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 separate rulings October 16th, courts in Alabama and Nebraska sided with voters over zealous state officials, protecting the right to register and vote in the 2024 election.

In August, the Alabama Secretary of State announced a purge of registered voters who had, or once had, a “noncitizens identification number,” issued with a federal “green card” as a legal resident alien. But many of those registered are now naturalized citizens.

A federal district court judge ruled that Alabama must halt that process, and restore the voting rights to those affected, citing long standing federal law requiring purges to be completed 90 days or earlier from an election.

The Nebraska Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the secretary of state to subvert a 20-year-old state law allowing formerly incarcerated Nebraskans convicted of a felony to register and vote. Secretary of State Robert Evnen cited an opinion by the Nebraska attorney general that only the Nebraska Board of Pardons could restore that right. He directed election officials in July to ignore the law and stop registering those citizens.

The state supreme court’s reversal of that order affects as many as 7,000 returning citizens. Those already registered will automatically be restored, and those eligible have until Oct. 25th to register in person.

We have resources for checking voter registration status at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama (via Democracy Docket) – ALABAMA COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE v. WES ALLEN
Alabama Reflector – Federal judge blocks Alabama Secretary of State’s voter removal plan
NPR – A federal judge has ordered Alabama to stop trying to purge voters before Election Day
Nebraska Supreme Court – Gregory Spung  v. Robert Evnen, Nebraska Secretary of
State
Daily Nebraskan – BREAKING: Nebraska Supreme Court rules felons eligible to vote upon release

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU Nebraska,  Campaign Legal Center, Fair Elections Center, Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice

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 #Alabama #Nebraska #VoterPurge #VotingRights

The post Courts Order Halt to Alabama Voter Purge and to Allow Nebraska’s Formerly Incarcerated Felon Citizens to Register & Vote appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 14, 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 ink wasn’t yet dry on the Indian Citizens Act of 1924 when voter suppression of Native Americans began.  Natives have been fighting for their right to register and vote, proper representation, and fair voting districts ever since.

The Brennan Center for Justice writes that for decades, Arizona disenfranchised Native citizens because they were, QUOTE, “Persons under guardianship.”  New Mexico’s constitution stipulated that people who didn’t pay taxes, including Natives on reservations, could not vote.  

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited these suppression tactics.  But the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby decision opened a floodgate of new Native suppression in Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nevada and other states.

Recently, proof of citizenship and voter ID laws have targeted Natives, some of whom don’t have an ID, or live in remote areas without street numbers.  Counties have used “at-large” voting districts to dilute Native voting power, or removed drop boxes or polling places, forcing voters to drive sometimes more than a hundred miles to vote.  

What can be done?  The federal Native American Voting Rights Act is stuck in Congress, but New Mexico passed its own version in 2023.  The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restores protections stripped from the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act would expand voting access for ALL Americans.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Native American Rights Fund – (2020) Obstacles at Every Turn
Brennan Center for Justice – How Voter Suppression Laws Target Native Americans
NPR – Sometimes overlooked by campaigns, Native voters could decide major elections in 2024

Split Ticket – The Largest Native American Voting Blocs
Intermountain Histories – Trujillo v. Garley: The Struggle for Native American Voting Rights
The White House – (2022) REPORT OF THE INTERAGENCY STEERING GROUP ON NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren – Native American Voting Rights Act
U.S. Congress – John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

National Conference of State Legislatures – Recently Enacted Legislation Impacting Native American Voters

Groups Taking Action:

Native American Rights Fund, Native Vote, National Congress of American Indians, Declaration for American Democracy

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 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 #NativeVote #VoterSuppression #JohnLewisAct #FreedomtoVoteAct

The post Suppression of Native American Voters is on the Rise.  Three Pieces of Pending Legislation Could Stop It. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

We have three quick state updates, including a court decision favoring the over 97,000 Arizona voters who didn’t have citizenship documents on file, a promising poll showing Colorado voters may embrace open primaries and ranked choice voting, and a court case by Robert F. Kennedy to sticker out his name in Wisconsin.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Sept. 20th that over 97,000 Arizonans who, because of a state error were never asked for proof-of-citizenship documents, WILL vote using Arizona’s “full ballot.” The state will work to correct the files after the 2024 election.

Colorado Proposition 131 would implement single ballot open primaries and use ranked choice voting should it pass in November.    A poll of 800 voters by Colorado Voters First found 56% would vote for the initiative, 8% leaning yes, 21% no, and 4% leaning no.  Another 11% were undecided.  Nevada also votes on a similar proposal for the second time, as required by its constitution.  

With hundreds of thousands of ballots printed and some early ballots already sent, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appealed to have his name stickered over on the ballot after the Wisconsin Elections Commission denied his request.  The commission has since asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case. 

Votebeat Wisconsin reported that local election officials expressed concern at the time it would take, and the unknown impact it could have on operation of optical ballot readers.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Arizona Mirror – AZ Supreme Court won’t limit 97,000 improperly registered voters

Arizona Supreme Court – Decision – MARICOPA COUNTY RECORDER STEPHEN v. ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE ADRIAN FONTES
Colorado Sun – Colorado’s all-candidate primary and ranked choice general election ballot measure is poised to pass, poll shows
Votebeat Wisconsin – Wisconsin clerks in sticker shock over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to have name covered on ballot
Wisconsin Examiner – Appeals court will hear RFK Jr. lawsuit to get off presidential ballot
WISN – Wisconsin Supreme Court to take Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ballot challenge

Groups Taking Action:
Colorado Voters First

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 #ColoradoNews #WisconsinNews #ArizonaNews

The post Updates on 97,000 Registered AZ Voters Without Citizenship Proof, CO Open Primaries & RCV Poll, and Stickering Out RFK Jr. in WI appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 20, 2024

Today’s Script

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

Shortly after taking office, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen directed state election officials to invalidate voter registrations of immigrants who had been issued a Permanent Resident, or “green” card by the U.S. Government.  In his zeal to root out noncitizens, he apparently invalidated eligible U.S. naturalized citizens as well. 

Despite no evidence of widespread illegal voting by noncitizens in Alabama, Allen directed the removal of residents who had a federal “noncitizens identification number” from the state’s voter rolls. The state purged 3,251 people in August, after which Allen said in a statement, “I have been clear that I will not tolerate the participation of noncitizens in our elections.”   

The Alabama Reflector reports that a lawsuit was filed Sept. 13th by democracy groups and four naturalized citizens who had at one time held a green card and noncitizen identification number, and were swept up in Allen’s, QUOTE, “Purge Program.” 

The complaint alleges that it violates the First and Fourteenth amendments, the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, and asks the court to strike down the program.  It also alleges that the announcement and notification of voters violated the VRA’s prohibition of  “attempting to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote.”  No hearing has been scheduled.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. District Court, Northern District via Democracy Docket – Complaint
Associated Press – Lawsuit says Alabama voter purge targets naturalized citizens
NPR – The GOP is making false claims about noncitizens voting. It’s affecting real voters

Brennan Center for Justice – Noncitizen Voting Isn’t Affecting State or Federal Elections — Here’s Why
Alabama Political Reporter – Undocumented woman charged for voting fraud, but research shows noncitizen voting is rare and overstated

Groups Taking Action:
Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, League of Women Voters AL,  Alabama State Conference of the NAACP

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 #AlabamaNews #VoterSuppression #NewCitizens

The post Alabama SOS Sweeps Up Naturalized Citizens In Move to Root Out Supposed Noncitizen Voters, Spurs Lawsuit appeared first on American Democracy Minute.