The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for July 12, 2023

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time) 

Today’s Links now below the script

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

A group organized to repeal ranked choice voting in Alaska may have used a church’s nonprofit status to avoid disclosing donor information, according to a complaint filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Alaska Public Media reports that a complaint by Alaskans for Better Elections alleges that the Ranked Choice Education Association was formed as a wing of Wellspring Fellowship of Alaska, with the purpose of providing funding to repeal Ballot Measure 2, implemented in 2022.

Ballot Measure 2 creates a “top-four” system for Congressional races, establishes open primaries, and employs ranked choice voting for general elections.  It also mandates campaign transparency for “dark money” contributors donating to PACs, groups, nonprofits and corporations.

Wellspring Fellowship’s pastor, Dr. Arthur Mathias, is also the president of the Ranked Choice Education Association, which registered as a “church integrated auxiliary” of Wellspring.  Ranked Choice Education Association in turn made contributions to Alaskans for Honest Elections, which is collecting signatures for a ballot initiative to overturn Ballot Measure 2.   

Political contributions are not tax deductible at either the state or federal level, and overt political activity by churches can jeopardize federal non profit status.  The complaint accuses both organizations of not reporting contributions according to Alaska law, and possible misrepresentation of those donations.

We have a link to the report and the full complaint at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Alaska Public Media – Alaska Public Offices Commission Complaint by Alaskans for Better Elections
Alaska Public Media – Complaint alleges foes of Alaska’s ranked choice voting formed a church to funnel political donations
BallotPedia – Alaska Ballot Measure 2
Juneau Empire – Ranked choice repeal ‘church’ violating campaign laws, complaint alleges

Anchorage Daily News – Complaint alleges opponents of Alaska’s ranked choice voting formed church to skirt disclosure laws

Groups Taking Action:
Alaskans for Better Elections

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #DarkMoney #RankedChoiceVoting

The post Foes of Alaska’s Ranked Choice Voting Alleged to Have Used Church as a Front to Shield Disclosure of Donors appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 25, 2023

In Landmark Ruling, Alaska Supreme Court Rules that Gerrymandering is Unconstitutional
***Today’s Links now located below the script***

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday, April 21st that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional, invalidating the 2022 maps drawn from a redistricting commission which had strayed from its constitutional intent to be nonpartisan. 

Alaska voters approved the 1998 constitutional amendment ballot measure creating a redistricting board by a 52% to 48% margin.  The new board was to be staffed by two members appointed by the governor, and one each by the House speaker, Senate president, and chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

After two previous cases striking down gerrymandered state house & senate voting districts and forcing court-ordered interim maps for the 2022 midterms, for this case, the state justices delved into the history and the intentions of the original law.  In the 144-page ruling, they concluded,  “We expressly recognize that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional under the Alaska Constitution.”  

The Anchorage Daily News quotes Scott Kendall, attorney and chief of staff to former Gov. Bill Walker, as saying, “This is an incredibly important case.  For the first time the Alaska Supreme Court has interpreted the equal protection doctrine to prohibit gerrymandering for partisan purposes. This decision will put vital sideboards on the redistricting process to prevent political abuse of the process in the future.”

The redistricting board was given 90 days to explain why the fairer court-ordered maps should not be used in 2032.

We have links to articles, the court’s decision, and groups taking action  at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Anchorage Daily News – Alaska Supreme Court, in landmark ruling, says partisan gerrymandering violates state constitution
Alaska Redistricting Board – 2022 May Interim Proclamation Regional and by-District Maps

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ALASKA – Decision in the matter of the 2021 Redistricting Cases
BallotPedia – Redistricting in Alaska
BallotPedia – Alaska Reapportionment Board, Measure 3 (1998)

Groups Taking Action:

Alaska Center, Native American Rights Fund, League of Women Voters AK, Alaska PIRG

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews

The post In Landmark Ruling, Alaska Supreme Court Rules that Gerrymandering is Unconstitutional appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 14, 2023

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Alaska Public Media – Why Alaska uses ranked choice voting and what we know about how it affects elections
Reason Magazine – Don’t Blame Ranked Choice Voting. Sarah Palin Was a Bad Candidate.
InForum – North Dakota Gov. Burgum vetoes bill to ban approval voting
Arizona Mirror – Hobbs vetoes bills to bar ranked-choice voting, criminalize immigrant aid groups

Represent.Us – GOVERNORS FROM BOTH PARTIES VETO RANKED CHOICE VOTING BANS
Heritage Foundation – Ranked-Choice Voting Should Be Ranked Dead Last as an Election Reform

Alaska Beacon – Five takeaway lessons from Alaska’s first ranked choice election
Try Out Ranked Choice Voting – Election: Practice Ranked-Choice Voting: Favorite Alaska Wild Animal

FairVote – What is Ranked Choice Voting (video)

Groups Taking Action:
Fair Vote, Voter Choice Arizona,  League of Women Voters ND, ACLU ND, Save Democracy Arizona

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time) 

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

In January, we reported on the nine states considering Ranked Choice Voting this year.   We DIDN’T anticipate the wave of state bills BANNING the ranked choice voting system.      

The anti-RCV bills follow a Republican loss in Alaska’s “top 4” congressional election last year which successfully employed RCV.  When Democrat Mary Peltola emerged as the winner, former governor Sarah Palin blamed RCV for her loss. 

The Heritage Foundation, already a vocal opponent of RCV and seeing multiple pro-RCV bills proposed in red states, doubled down.  Calling it a “scheme,” “chaotic” and “confusing,” Heritage called for Republican legislators nationwide to oppose RCV.   

Two of those anti-RCV bills were just vetoed by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.  North Dakota’s HB 1273 would forbid North Dakota municipalities from choosing what form of election system to use for LOCAL elections.  Burgum called the bill a “state overreach” on local control.

Arizona’s HB 2552 was similar, outlawing the use Ranked Choice Voting.   Idaho and South Dakota have already passed bans this year, and Texas and Montana are considering them.   North Dakota’s legislature may shortly consider a veto override, and Arizona Republicans are preparing a constitutional amendment to ban RCV to appear on the 2024 ballot.

Meanwhile, 79% of Alaska voters found Ranked Choice Voting easy, and 60% said the election was more competitive – which may explain the rush to ban it.  

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

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews

The post Conservative Legislatures Rush to Ban Ranked Choice Voting, Despite Its Popularity with Voters appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for December 30, 2022

Listen!

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Brennan Center for Justice – Americans rejected election denial and adopted reforms. Let’s build on that in 2023
NPR – 2020 changed how America votes. The question now is whether those changes stick
Alaska Bulletin – Five takeaway lessons from Alaska’s first ranked choice election
Roll Call – At the Races: What pushing for voting rights accomplished
City & State NY – What you need to know about New York’s new statewide public campaign finance program

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

While many states implemented intentional barriers to voting and ignored partisan gerrymandering, some forward-looking states enacted pro-voter democracy reforms, helping to make voting accessible to all of their citizens.

On the federal front, while the Freedom to Vote and For the People acts failed in the U.S. Senate, the Electoral Count Reform Act passed, helping to prevent another election subversion.  

Approving ballot questions, Connecticut and Michigan added more in-person early voting in 2022.   Georgia begrudgingly allowed early voting for the U.S. Senate runoff election, after democracy advocacy groups filed suit.  And despite the Georgia legislature’s anti-voter SB 202 implementation, advocacy groups mobilized record turnout. 

Massachusetts formalized on-demand mail-in voting, where voters can request electronically to be added to an ongoing vote-by-mail list.  Nevada implemented a permanent mail-in voting program in 2022, and took its first step toward single ballot open primaries and ranked choice voting.   Alaska debuted its “top four” open primary and ranked choice voting system in June for a special election, and 85% of voters thought it was simple to use.

Just after the November midterm, New York State implemented a small-donor campaign financing system, where candidates can earn matching funds by seeking out smaller contributions, reducing influence and enabling less affluent candidates to run.  And Arizona banned dark money in state elections.

Read more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   For the American Democracy Minute.   I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Among Growing Anti-Voter Legislation, There Were Some Democracy Reform Successes in 2022 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for November 17, 2022

Listen!

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Yes on 3 Nevada – Ballot initiative description
BallotPedia – Nevada Question 3, Top-Five Ranked Choice Voting Initiative (2022)
Nevada Current – Question 3: Election reform proposal ekes out victory, will return in 2024
Vox – The plan to save America by killing the partisan primary
Nevada Current – Question 3 is hated by many and funded by rich out-of-state reformers, but…
Maybe that’s a selling point

Groups Taking Action:

Vote Nevada, Yes on 3 NV

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time) 

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Today, we’re in Nevada, where a citizen initiative passed November 8th, clearing its first hurdle to add ranked choice voting and open primaries to the Nevada constitution.

Question 3 won by a slim margin, with 52.7%, in the first of two referendum votes it needs to modify the Nevada state constitution.   The second vote will be in the 2024 general election.

Question 3 would change the current closed primary system which has separate ballots for Democrats and Republicans, and create an “open primary” with one primary ballot, similar to a new system in Alaska.  The system would apply to the statewide races, and to U.S. House & Senate, but not the Presidential election.

In the proposed system, the five candidates for each position with the highest Primary election vote totals would advance.   In the General election, ranked choice voting would be used, with voters ranking their preferences.   If no candidate wins a simple 50% majority of the vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. People who voted for that candidate as their first choice would have their votes redistributed to their next choice

What are the advantages?  An open primary diminishes “the race to the bottom” that a closed primary often causes, and ranked choice allows voters to support their favorite candidate without compromising for electability reasons.

We have links to articles and groups taking action  at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org  For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Nevada Citizen Initiative Takes Step Toward Ranked Choice Voting & Open Primaries appeared first on American Democracy Minute.