The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 26, 2025

An Elon Musk Super PAC is offering a $100 bounty for Wisconsin petition signers in a data collection scheme just days before a state supreme court election.  While it’s illegal under federal and state law to pay someone to register, vote, or not to vote, it’s sadly not illegal to offer a bounty for voters’ personal information.  

Axios reports that Musk has already spent $20 million dollars in the state race to support judge and former state attorney general Brad Schimel, endorsed Friday by President Donald Trump.

Similar to a $47 bounty Musk offered in the 2024 presidential campaign, his America PAC promises $100 for each referral of a qualified Wisconsin voter who then signs a petition opposing activist judges.  The referred voter must include a valid email and phone, likely to be used for get-out-the-vote efforts.

In a March 1st stump speech to supporters, candidate Schimel said, “Donald Trump doesn’t do this by himself.  There has to be a support network around him,” he said.  He noted there were 70 lawsuits filed against Trump’s actions, and QUOTE “The only way we’re going to stop that, is if the courts stop it.” 

Judge Schimel apparently has not signed the petition, which reads, “Judges should interpret laws as written, not rewrite them to fit their personal or political agendas.” 

Find a link to the petition and the Schimel’s stump speech at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Axios – Musk’s PAC offers $100 to Wisconsin voters in pitch against “activist judges”
Wisconsin Examiner – Musk PAC offers Wisconsin voters $100 for signing petition against ‘activist judges’
WISN – Trump, Musk back Brad Schimel ahead of State Supreme Court Election
America PAC – TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR AMERICA PAC’S ACTIVIST JUDGES PETITION PROGRAM FOR WISCONSIN VOTERS

America PAC – Petition in Opposition to Activist Judges

Wisconsin Examiner – Schimel tells canvassers he’ll be ‘support network’ for Trump and rehashes election conspiracies
Schimel Campaign – 2025 03 01 Brad Schimel Speaks at Turning Point USA Waukesha
Influence Watch – America PAC

Groups Taking Action:

Public Citizen, Common Cause

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 #ElonMusk #AmericaPAC #Bounty #Personal Data #Wisconsin

The post Elon Musk Data Collection Scheme in Support of WI Supreme Court Candidate Offers $100 Bounty to Refer Petition Signers appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 25, 2025

Prior to the  2024 election, President Donald Trump made baseless allegations of widespread noncitizen voting, spurring election officials in Iowa and other states to identify suspected noncitizens on their voter rolls.  It also generated restrictive proof of citizenship legislation in Iowa and 18 other states.

Two weeks before the election, the Iowa Secretary of State directed county election officials to challenge 2,176 registered voters it suspected were noncitizens, and therefore not eligible to vote by state or federal law. Iowa, like Virginia and Alabama, found most of its alleged illegal voters were actually naturalized citizens.  It’s unclear how many were disenfranchised. 

Of the 277 Iowa noncitizens found to be illegally registered, only 35 voted. Illegal to be sure, but only 0.00209% of the over 1.67 million ballots cast.  Eighteen voted in person, 15 by mail, and 2 cast provisional ballots.  Five others had their ballots rejected, and 22 did not vote.  The 277 have been referred to law enforcement, while Senate Bill 550, requiring citizenship documents at registration, advances in the      legislature.

New Hampshire’s new proof of citizenship law is already in effect.  More on how it negatively impacted eligible Granite State voters in a future report.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Iowa Secretary of State – Iowa Secretary of State’s audit of voter registration lists finds 277 confirmed noncitizens registered to vote
Iowa Capital Dispatch – Iowa secretary of state says 277 noncitizens confirmed to be on Iowa’s voter rolls
Des Moines Register – After flagging 2,000+ ballots, Iowa secretary of state says 35 noncitizens voted in 2024

Iowa Secretary of State – 2024 General Election Turnout Report
Brennan Center for Justice – Why the Myth of Noncitizen Voting Persists
Voting Rights Lab – The Truth about False Claims of Noncitizen Voting

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU, League of United Latin American Citizens

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 #Iowa #NoncitizenVoting #VoterPurge 

The post Iowa’s Secretary of State Challenged 2,176 Suspected Noncitizen Voters in 2024.  Only 35 Noncitizens Actually Voted. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

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 #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.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 21, 2025

A Washington State audit of rejected 2020 mail-in ballots offers insight on whose ballots are more likely to be rejected, and recommends actions to reduce that number – over 37,000 in 2024.   

Primary reasons for rejection included ballots received or postmarked after Election Day; a missing signature on the ballot envelope; or the voter’s signature couldn’t be confirmed.   

Auditors found 2020 rates varied from a high of 1.5% in Franklin County to .02% in Columbia County, and agreed with county decisions in 98.7% of cases.  But they also found higher rejections of younger voters 18-21, where 2.6% of ballots were rejected,  and Black voters at 2.5%.  They also found that non-native English speakers were 47% more likely to have ballots rejected.  Signature issues can often be cured, but many voters don’t, or can’t, correct it.  

The auditors recommended outreach programs on college campuses, sending letters and calling voters with curable signature issues, more training on signature verification, opening early voting centers 18 days before election day, an advisory committee for disabled voters, and ballot drop boxes for every 15,000 voters.  

In the 2024 general election, Washington’s statewide rejection rate had dropped to .94%, but of those, over 24,000 were rejected for a mismatched signature.

Find a link to the audit at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Washington Secretary of State – 2024 Annual Report of Washington State Elections
Office of the Washington State Auditor – (2022)  Summary – Evaluating Washington’s Ballot Rejection Rates
Office of the Washington State Auditor – (2022)   Audit –  Evaluating Washington’s Ballot Rejection Rates 
Brennan Center for Justice – (2020) Mail Ballot Security Features: A Primer
Civic Design – Voting by Mail: The Impact of Signature Identity Verification for Voters with Disabilities
National Conference of State Legislatures – How States Verify Voted Absentee/Mail Ballots

MIT Election Data + Science Lab – A Deep Dive into Absentee Ballot Rejection in the 2020 General Election

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU, LULAC, Vet Voice Foundation, The Washington Bus, El Centro de la Raza

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 #SignatureVerification #Disenfranchisement #WashingtonState #BallotRejection

The post Washington State 2022 Audit of Rejected Mail Ballots Offers Valuable Insights for States Using Signature Verification appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 20, 2025

Washington State implemented their universal vote-by-mail system in 2013, and built in signature-matching for identity verification.  A March ruling by the state supreme court upholds that rule as constitutional because voters can cure discrepancies. 

Before the 2022 midterms, a state-commissioned audit found that younger voters, voters of color, and non-English speakers were far more likely to have their ballots rejected, and the rate of rejection varied by county.    

Two recent lawsuits challenged the signature matching rule, claiming that the lack of handwriting standards and the inconsistent science for signature verification, resulted in the rejection of 4,500 Hispanic ballots in the 2020 primary, and 36,000 ballots from all voters in the 2022 midterms.

In the court’s recent opinion, Justice Steven C. González acknowledged those rejections: “All too many ballots are not counted because election workers cannot verify the voter’s signatures and the voter does not or cannot cure their ballot in time.”

But the court found no bias, evidence of partisan malfeasance, or that voters were intentionally blocked from voting.  It also found counties offered opportunities to cure those ballots.   The state’s auditor recommended more training for county election officials, outreach to the most affected voter groups to prevent discrepancies, and more valuable advice for any state verifying signatures.  We’ll have more on that in our next report.  

Find links at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Office of the Washington State Auditor – (2022) Evaluating Washington’s Ballot Rejection Rates
Democracy Docket – (2021)  Washington Signature Matching Challenge (LULAC)
Democracy Docket – Washington Supreme Court Upholds State’s Ballot Signature Verification System
Washington Supreme Court – Opinion in Vet Voice Foundation v. Hobbs
Washington State Standard – Washington Supreme Court upholds ballot signature verification system
Washington Secretary of State – Signature Verification & Compliance Tool Training Manual

Groups Taking Action:

LULAC, Vet Voice Foundation, The Washington Bus, El Centro de la Raza

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 #StateofWashington #VotingRights #VotebyMail #SignatureVerification

The post Washington Supreme Court Rules Signature Matching Can Be Used to Disqualify Ballots But Acknowledges It Impacts Too Many Voters appeared first on American Democracy Minute.