The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 21, 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.

Early voting is well under way in 22 states, and will be joined by another 11 states Oct. 21st and 22nd.   But if you’re not registered in Pennsylvania, Alabama or South Dakota, your time runs out by the end of day on Oct. 21st.  

On Monday and Tuesday, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, South Carolina, Texas, Hawaii, Missouri, Utah, and Wisconsin begin early voting.  Depending on your state’s rules, that could mean early in-person voting, or by mail, or both.   Seven more states, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey and New York begin later in the week.

Monday October 21st, voter registration closes in the battleground state of Pennsylvania for the November 5th general election, as do Alabama and South Dakota.   Other states closing registrations later this week are Nebraska, Massachusetts and New York, none of which, for voters who miss those deadlines, offer election-day registration.

Voter registration has already closed in 22 states, and none of those states offer election day registration, either.    

Voting early can mean shorter lines, less hassle and if you’re voting by mail, sometimes a chance to fix minor mistakes on your ballot. 

We’ve linked information on early voting and registration deadlines for all these states at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

To view the whole script of today’s report, please go to our website.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
BallotPedia – Voter registration deadlines, 2024

BallotPedia –  2024 election and voting dates
National Conference of State Legislatures – Same Day/Election Day Voter Registration
Vote.gov – Register to Vote by State
Pennsylvania Voter Services – Voter Registration Application
Alabama Secretary of State – Register to Vote / Update Your Information
South Dakota Secretary of State –  Register to Vote, Update Voter Registration or Cancel Voter Registration

Check Your Voter Registration/State Information on Registering:

• 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 #EarlyVoting #VoterRegistration #RegistertoVote 

The post Early Voting Begins in 18 States This Week, But Voter Registration Ends in 6 States.  You Can’t Vote If You’re Not Registered.  appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 28, 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.

A 2023 decision in an Arkansas redistricting case found individual voters did not have a “private right of action” to challenge the maps. The State of Louisiana tried the same tactic in its chaotic gerrymandering case, but was refused on June 24th. It appears to be the latest legal strategy to dismantle the 1965 Voting Rights Act.   

Defying precedent, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held in a 2023 Arkansas racial gerrymandering case that individual voters do not have a “private right of action” under the VRA Section 2.  It said only the U.S. Justice Department could bring such cases, despite individuals having filed  90% of previous challenges.  Calling it “radical,” scholars expected it to be quickly overturned, but this January, the full 8th Circuit refused to rehear the case. 

Seeing an opening, Louisiana asked the full 5th Circuit to rehear its gerrymandering case on the same grounds, with 13 other Republican attorneys general urging a “no private right of action” decision.  In a close vote Monday, the 5th Circuit refused that rehearing.  

For now, the 8th Circuit decision still only affects Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. But it’s clear that private right of action is the new battleground for voting rights challenges, and will almost certainly reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

We’ve  linked to explainers on the private right of action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Brennan Center for Justice – The Newest Attack on the Voting Rights Act
Law360 – 8th Circ. Redistricting Ruling Imperils The Voting Rights Act
Congressional Research Service – Recent Developments in the Rights of Private
Individuals to Enforce Section 2 of the Voting
Rights Act
American Democracy Minute – Ripple Effects After Radical Federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling Restricting Who Can Bring Voting Rights Act Suits; Red State AGs Pile On
American Democracy Minute – Federal Appeals Court Denies Rehearing of Radical Arkansas Voting Rights Act Ruling Shutting Out Voters & Democracy Groups from Bringing Cases
Democracy Docket – 5th Circuit Denies Louisiana Hearing on Whether Voters Can Sue State Under Section 2

Groups Taking Action:
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU Louisiana,  Power Coalition for Equity and Justice,  Arkansas Public Policy Panel

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #PrivateRightofAction #RacialGerrymandering #LouisianaNews #VRA #VotingRightsAct #FreedomtoVote

The post Federal 5th Circuit Refuses Challenge to ‘Private Right of Action’ – For Now.  It’s the New Battleground to Dismantle the 1965 Voting Rights Act appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 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.

Is the U.S. Supreme Court aiming to take yet another chop at the 1965 Voting Rights Act?  An Arkansas redistricting case has been sent back to a lower court after last week’s new rules making it harder to prove racial gerrymandering. 

In another case, the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in November 2023 that individual voters could not bring a “private right of action” for voting rights cases.  Instead, such cases could only be brought by the U.S. Justice Department.  A request to rehear the case was denied in January.

Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the Congressional gerrymandering case to be reheard by a three-judge district court panel to apply new standards handed down in Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP.   Under the new SCOTUS rules, the plaintiffs will have to prove that the splitting of the 2nd Congressional district was done for racial, not political, reasons, and provide an alternate map which provides an acceptable balance.  In addition, the Arkansas voters will need to argue they indeed have a “private right of action” to bring the case.

Suspicious minds may argue that the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority is playing chess, expecting to see the case on appeal, where the right of private action can be stripped from precedent and Voting Rights Act protections.

Find more on the case and the groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – (2023) Radical Decision by Appeals Court in Arkansas Case Greenlights North Dakota Appeal to Restore Maps Designed to Suppress Native American Voting Power
American Democracy Minute – Federal Appeals Court Denies Rehearing of Radical Arkansas Voting Rights Act Ruling Shutting Out Voters & Democracy Groups from Bringing Cases
ABC/AP – US Supreme Court sends Arkansas redistricting case back to judges after South Carolina ruling
Democracy Docket – US Supreme Court Punts Case Challenging Arkansas Congressional Map

SCOTUS Blog – Simpson v. Thurston

Groups Taking Action:
ACLU, Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP, Arkansas Public Policy Panel

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ArkansasNews #VotingRightsAct #RacialGerrymandering #RightofPrivateAction

The post After Raising the Bar to Prove Racial Gerrymandering in South Carolina Case, the U.S. Supreme Court Reopens a 2022 Arkansas Redistricting Case appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

In Nov. 2023, an 8th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s radical ruling that Arkansas voters did not have the right to sue under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.  Despite being widely panned as a fringe ruling, the 8th Circuit refused to re-hear the case January 30th.  

The Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, represented by the ACLU, contested racially gerrymandered state house  maps under the Voting Rights Act Section 2.  

In 2022, an 8th Circuit federal district court ignored decades of “private right of action” precedent allowing voters, civil rights groups and democracy advocates to bring suits to protect the rights of voters.  The court restricted standing to only the U.S. Department of Justice, though for the moment, it applies only to states in the 8th Circuit:  Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.   

The decision started a chain reaction in the 8th circuit and other districts, with anti-voter state officials attempting to re-open VRA cases they had lost, including in North Dakota and Louisiana.  Other district courts refused those requests. 

Taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court would likely be a gamble, given the willingness of the court’s most conservative and radical justices to gut the Voting Rights Act. 

We have more on the case, and the groups taking action, at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – Arkansas Legislative Redistricting Challenge
ACLU – (2023) FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS RADICAL RULING IN ARKANSAS REDISTRICTING CASE
Democracy Docket – 8th Circuit Rules Private Plaintiffs Cannot Sue Under Section 2 of Voting Rights Act

Arkansas Advocate – Federal appeals court won’t rehear closely watched Arkansas redistricting case
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit – Opinion in Arkansas State Conference NAACP and Arkansas Public Policy Panel   v.  Arkansas Board of Apportionment
NPR – A federal court declines to revisit a ruling that could weaken the Voting Rights Act

Groups Taking Action:
ACLU, Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP, Arkansas Public Policy Panel

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotingRightsAct #PrivateRightofAction #Arkansas #EightCircuit #RacialGerrymandering

The post Federal Appeals Court Denies Rehearing of Radical Arkansas Voting Rights Act Ruling Shutting Out Voters & Democracy Groups from Bringing Cases appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 18, 2023

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.

Last week we reported on the aftershocks of an Arkansas racial gerrymandering case, where the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decided voters and groups had “No private right of action” under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.   Two rulings issued Friday, December 15th pushed back on that radical decision.

GOP officials in North Dakota and Louisiana seized on the Eighth Circuit’s  decision to see if they could overturn federal court mandates to draw maps where Native and Black Americans could have an opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice under the VRA.

Citing the “no private right of action,” decision the State of North Dakota tried to stop the redrawing of maps in a case won by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe.  Democracy Docket reports that an unsigned order Friday, also from the Eighth Circuit, denied the appeal by the state’s GOP Secretary of State. 

In another VRA racial gerrymandering case won by voters, the GOP Louisiana Secretary of State AND Attorney General asked for a rehearing of Robinson v. Ardoin, also based on the Eighth Circuit’s decision.  The Fifth Circuit didn’t agree, denying the state’s request, and mandating the map with a VRA-compliant district be drawn by January 30th, per the lower court’s order. 

We have more the defense of the Voting Rights Act Section 2 at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
NPR – How a Supreme Court justice’s paragraph put the Voting Rights Act in more danger
AP – Court ruling backs tribes’ effort to force lawmakers to redraw North Dakota legislative boundaries
Democracy Docket – 8th Circuit Greenlights Redraw of North Dakota Legislative Map To Comply With Voting Rights Act
U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals –  APPEAL FROM DECISION OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA 
Louisiana Illuminator – 5th Circuit denies Louisiana’s appeal in congressional redistricting case
Louisiana Illuminator – Louisiana Legislature gets time to draw congressional map in third redistricting session
Brennan Center for Justice – The Newest Attack on the Voting Rights Act

Groups Taking Action:
ACLU, NAACP Legal Defence Fund, Native American Rights Fund,  Power Coalition for Equity and Justice

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotingRightsAct #EndGerrymandering #NativeVote 

The post Encouraging New Decisions for North Dakota and Louisiana Push Back on the U.S. Eighth Circuit’s “No Right of Private Action” Voting Rights Act Ruling appeared first on American Democracy Minute.