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

Today’s Script

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

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill February 18th which would have restricted how and when mail-in ballots could be returned, and hobbled the state’s long-running permanent vote-by-mail list. Republicans argue it would speed up election results. 

Arizona bipartisanly adopted a no excuse mail-in voting law in 1991, then added a permanent vote-by-mail list in 2007.  An estimated 75% of Arizona voters used mail-in voting in 2022, with few abuses over decades.

Yet HB 2703 would have required voters on the permanent mail-in voting list to confirm their address each election cycle or be dropped. It changed in-person return rules for mail ballots, restricting returns to a county recorder’s office by the Friday before election day, or instead wait in line election day to personally scan the ballot. In 2024, 264,000 Arizonans returned their ballot on election day, according to the Arizona Mirror.

The bill also gave counties the right to commandeer schools for election precincts. We reported last year that some districts declined to use schools as polling locations, fearing armed vigilantes and other political violence on school grounds.

Not to be denied, Arizona House Republicans proposed a constitutional amendment, HCR 2013, using HB 2703’s restrictions.  If passed by the House and Senate, it’s not subject to veto, and would appear on the 2026 state ballot.

We linked Governor Hobb’s veto statement at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Arizona Legislature – HOUSE BILL 2703

Gov. Katie Hobbs – Veto Statement for House Bill 2703
Arizona Mirror – Hobbs vetoes Republican plan to end Election Day ballot drop-offs
Arizona Mirror – (2024)  More than 75% of voters use early ballots. Every AZ House Republican voted to take that away.
American Democracy Minute (2024) Fearing Violence, Schools Opt Out as Polling Places

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause AZ, Arizona Democracy Resource Center 

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 #ArizonaNews #MailInVoting #VoterSuppression

The post Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill Restricting Mail-In Voting, But House Republicans Attempt to Bypass It With Constitutional Amendment appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 18, 2025

Today’s Script

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

In September 2024, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes announced an error in state voter rolls involving 97,000 voters, revolving around a state DMV data error.  That number has risen to nearly 200,000, and an easy fix still hasn’t been found. 

In 1996, Arizona began requiring proof of citizenship when obtaining a driver’s license.  Since 2005, election officials have asked registered 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 accidentally given a new date of issue, and election officials never knew to ask for citizenship documents. 

Votebeat Arizona and the Arizona Mirror report that the investigation is ongoing, but the number affected has now ballooned to 200,000 voters registered, but without proof of citizenship on file. 

The Arizona Supreme Court allowed affected voters to vote in November’s election, but now the legislature is considering an emergency measure, House Bill 2038, directing election officials to contact the voters and request citizenship documents.  If not supplied within 35 days, the voter’s status would change to “not registered”, though voters could reactivate their registration by providing documentation right up to election day.  After the 2026 general election, those voters would be dropped.  

The Secretary of State’s office is reviewing the proposed legislation.  

We have the text of the bill and Votebeat’s reporting linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (2024) State Data Mistake Puts Voting in Local & State Elections at Risk for 97,000 Arizonans
Votebeat Arizona/Arizona Mirror – Arizona officials struggle to straighten out voter rolls after proof-of-citizenship mixup
Votebeat Arizona/Arizona Mirror – Arizona voters caught up in state’s citizenship-proof error could see their registrations canceled

Arizona House of Representatives – HB 2038 – Voter registrants; satisfactory proof of citizenship; delayed repeal

Groups Taking Action:

All Voting is Local Action – Arizona,  League of Women Voters AZ

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 #ArizonaNews #ProofofCitizenship #VoterRegistration

The post Arizona’s DMV Error May Force Nearly 200,000 Already Registered Voters to Bring In Citizenship Documents – or Be Dropped appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 23, 2025

Today’s Script

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

While President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6th pardons and executive orders have dominated the news, state legislatures have been hard at work on both pro-voter and anti-voter legislation. Democracy legislation tracker Voting Rights Lab counts 432 election bills pending in 32 states, with 100 of those bills restricting voter access, while 205 expand it.

The Wisconsin Senate and Assembly have approved Senate Joint Resolution 2, which would put a proposed voter ID constitution amendment  before the voters in November.  A Pew Research survey found 81% of Americans support a requirement for government issued ID to vote, despite its impact on the poor, disabled and the elderly. 

A New York Senate committee moved three pro-voter bills forward, authorizing county voting centers in addition to local precincts, and requiring the state to join the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, to help keep its voter rolls clean.  Another bill would criminalize spreading misleading election information intended to suppress the vote.

An Arizona Senate committee endorsed SB 1011, making changes to mail-in early voting rules, including when and where ballots may be returned.   The Virginia House approved a constitutional amendment to automatically restore rights to people formerly incarcerated for felonies.  Governor Glenn Younkin had previously ordered rights restoration on a case-by-case basis only.

We’ll be following all these bills in the months to come.

Find a link to the Voting Rights Lab tracker at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Voting Rights Lab – The Markup: January 21, 2025

Voting Rights Lab –  Bill Tracking Search (Registration required)
Votebeat Wisconsin – Wisconsin voters to decide whether to put photo ID requirement in constitution
Albany News 10 – Senate majority pushes legislative package with voting, election reform
Arizona Mirror – More AZ counties back Florida-style early ballot changes backed by Republicans
Virginia Mercury – Historic push for constitutional protections in Virginia gains momentum

Groups Taking Action:
Disability Rights Wisconsin, League of Women Voters NY, Arizona Democracy Resource Center

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

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 #VotingRights #VoterID #EarlyVoting #VotebyMail

The post While We Were Distracted with DC Discord, States Advance New Voting Regulations appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

As voters turn to ballot initiatives to bypass extreme legislatures, legislatures are manipulating initiative rules to protect their partisan power.  Expect more such attacks on direct democracy in 2025.

In 2024 alone, 10 reproductive rights measures qualified for the ballot, with only two failing, in Nebraska, and Florida.  Another passed in Ohio in 2023.   

Not willing to let extreme agendas get overridden by those pesky voters, legislatures are trying to de-fang direct democracy by trying to raise constitutional amendment thresholds to 60% or higher, and requiring minimum numbers of qualifying signatures from each county, rather than a statewide percentage. To keep Ohio voters from passing abortion protections in 2023, the legislature proposed a 60% threshold, using a low-turnout August special election it had deemed too expensive to run.  It lost, and abortion rights prevailed four months later.   In 2024, the Ohio Secretary of State helped derail a citizen-led redistricting measure by rewriting its ballot description to mislead voters.

The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center reports there were three 2024 measures attacking direct democracy.  Arizonans voted down a measure requiring minimum signatures from every county, and another allowing a pre-election litigation on measures.  North Dakota would have raised the signatures required, and winning both a primary AND a general election.  It, too, failed.    

Expect more such attacks on direct democracy in 2025.  Find more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (2023) Ohio Legislature Forcing Through Restoration of Aug. 8th Election to Pass Hurdles for Citizen Ballot Initiatives & Block Potential Abortion Rights Measure
American Democracy Minute – (2023) Ohio Voters Defeat Republican Effort to Raise Citizen Ballot Initiative Passage to 60% in Pro-Voter Victory
Route 50 – States look to rein in ballot initiatives with more ballot initiatives
The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center – 2024 Election Results

KFF – Outcome of Abortion-Related State Constitutional Amendment Measures in the 2024 Election
Reuters – Florida, two other states defy trend and vote down abortion rights
State Court Report – Direct Democracy Under Attack 

Groups Taking Action:

Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, League of Women Voters US, Common Cause US

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

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 #DirectDemocracy #FreedomtoVote #WethePeople

The post Citizen Ballot Initiatives Help Voters Bypass Extreme Legislatures.  But Expect More Attempts to Block Those Initiatives in 2025 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

In official meeting rooms around the country, 538 electors for the 2024 Presidential election met December 17th to cast their vote on behalf of their state’s results.  Thirteen of those Electoral College electors are accused 2020 fake electors, some of whom still face prosecution. 

Trump campaign associates coordinated a plot in seven battleground states to submit a fraudulent slate of Republican electors.  The plot failed when Vice President Mike Pence refused to participate and certified the results. 

The alleged “fake electors” in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico, Georgia and Arizona were subject to investigations by state officials, the January 6th Committee, and the Special Counsel.  Fake electors in Michigan, Georgia, and Arizona still face trial. Nevada prosecutors just refiled charges Dec.12th.  No charges were brought in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 

Stunningly, 13 of those electors were renominated by their state Republican parties as electors in 2024.  Six of the 15 awaiting trial for forgery in Michigan were renominated. Six Nevada electors were re-indicted last week on forgery charges, two of whom were renominated, including Jesse Law and state GOP chair Michael McDonald.  

Still unclear is whether Trump will include the fake electors in his promised pardons for those accused and convicted for the January 6th insurrection.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (C.R.E.W) – The cases against fake electors and where they stand
LawFare – Where the Fake Electors Cases Stand in State Court
Michigan Public – “Vindication” as Trump’s “fake electors” serve as real ’24 electors
NPR – ‘Fake electors’ from 2020 are casting 2024 votes for Trump while facing felony charges

ABC News – 13 accused of being ‘fake electors’ cast Electoral College votes for Trump
Wisconsin Politics – Trump vows to eliminate Education Department, pardon Jan. 6 convicts during Mosinee rally
CNN – Recordings, emails show how Trump team flew fake elector ballots to DC in final push to overturn 2020 election
WSAZ – January 6th defendants, “fake electors” hope President-elect Trump keeps his word on pardons

Groups Taking Action:
C.R.E.W.,  LawForward

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

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 #January6th #FakeElectors

The post Among 2024 Electoral College Presidential Electors Were 13 Alleged 2020 Fake Electors, Some of Whom Await Trial on Fraud Charges appeared first on American Democracy Minute.