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

Our last installment for “Why People Don’t Vote Week” discusses what solutions are being proposed to encourage eligible citizens to register and vote.

The Center for American Progress outlined reforms which would encourage registration and voting. They include Automatic Voter Registration, to encourage registration at the DMV when obtaining a license or car registration. Oregon registered 219,000 new voters by AVR before the 2018 midterm and 47% of them voted.

Online voter registration, which includes submitting identification and other documents electronically, has eased the hassle for working people to register. A study in Georgia found that 71% of online registrants turned out to vote, higher than in person or mail registration.

Preregistering 16 & 17 year olds is effective in getting younger voters engaged. They can’t vote until age 18, but often schools can encourage future voting when coupled with civics education. Florida saw a 4.7% jump in youth voting as a result.

Early voting and voting by mail helps all manners of people to vote, providing flexibility in schedules for parents and working citizens. In the last few weeks, Georgia has shattered its early voting records.

What are your options for registering and voting? Contact your city or county election office or website for details. Do it now, for you, your state and your county.
Articles and links to groups taking action are at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles:
Center for American Progress – Increasing Voter Participation in America
National Conference of State Legislatures-   Automatic Voter Registration
National Conference of State Legislatures-  Online Voter Registration
National Affairs- Does High Voter Turnout Help One Party?

Groups Taking Action:
Movement Voter Project, Voto Latino, Black Voters Matter, Vote.org, When We All Vote,  Vote411

Vote Riders

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers

The post Why People Don’t Vote Week: Some of the Solutions to Getting Nonvoters to Register & Vote appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 26, 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.

Eligible citizens in Pennsylvania will now be automatically registered to vote when obtaining a new driver’s license or state ID, unless they opt out of the system.   Such “Automatic Voter Registration” or AVR, systems have registered millions of voters in the 23 states where it’s been implemented.

Pennsylvania had been offering “opt in” voter registration at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, known as PennDOT, where eligible voters could answer questions and have their registration submitted to local officials by the agency.   

The change ordered by Governor Josh Shapiro on National Voter Registration Day allows PennDOT to use verified residency and citizenship documents used in their process to automatically register the citizen to vote.  Votebeat reports that PennDOT’s voter registration efforts have not always been smooth, and that some state officials were surprised by Shapiro’s announcement.

In the year after Colorado implemented automatic voter registration in 2020, 250,000 new voters were registered, including thousands of young voters.  In a 10 month period in 2022, Colorado averaged over 14,000 new AVR registrations per month.   In an interview on MSNBC, Gov. Shapiro said there are an estimated 1.6 million Pennsylvanians who qualify as voters, but who are not registered.  

The registration deadline for citizens wishing to vote in Pennsylvania’s Nov. 7th elections is October 26th.  We have links to articles about Pennsylvania’s new system, and a study about Colorado’s AVR success at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Office of Gov. Josh Shapiro – Governor Shapiro Implements Automatic Voter Registration in Pennsylvania
MSNBC – Interview with Gov. Josh Shapiro
Spotlight PA/Votebeat – Pa. will now prompt people to register to vote when they get a driver’s license
PA Dept. of State – Voter and Election Information Page
National Conference of State Legislatures – States With Automatic Voter Registration
Justin Grimmer and Jonathan Rodden,  Stanford University – Changing the Default: The Impact of Motor-Voter Reform in Colorado

Groups Taking Action:

League of Women Voters PA,   Common Cause PA, Conservation Voters of PA and PennFuture

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #AutomaticVoterRegistration #PennsylvaniaPolitics #LetthemVote

The post Pennsylvania Citizens Obtaining A Driver’s License or ID at the DMV Are Now Automatically Registered to Vote appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 9, 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.

Three bills signed by Oregon’s governor August 4th expand Automatic Voter Registration, protect voters who move within the state from losing eligibility, and allow the state to seek federal funding for dropbox security.

Voting Rights Lab reports that Gov. Tina Kotek signed HB 2107, making the Oregon Health Authority one of the state’s automatic voter registration locations.  Residents enrolling in the state’s Medicaid programs will also automatically be registered to vote, unless they opt out.  Another provision allows citizens registering to vote online to submit an electronic signature.

Governor Kotek also signed SB 166, which protects the eligibility of voters who move within the state.  You’ll recall our report last week about Georgia’s purge of registered voters, tens of thousands of whom had only moved within the state and were still eligible, but were disenfranchised in the 2020 and 2022 elections.  SB 166 also allows voters who are out of state when ballots are mailed to request ballots earlier.

Since 2000, Oregon votes primarily by mail.   But the hyperfocus on dropbox security since 2020 led to the signing of SB 1094, authorizing the state to seek federal funding for live streaming video of dropboxes, as well as in ballot counting facilities.  

We have links to the new laws, the history of Oregon’s successful vote by mail system, and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Voting Rights Lab’s “The Markup” – August 7, 2023
Oregon Legislature – Final version of HB 2107
Oregon Legislature – Final version of SB 166
Oregon Legislature – Final version of HB 1094
Bolts – Oregon Wants to Register Medicaid Recipients to Vote. Will Biden Officials Allow It?
Democracy Docket – Former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown:  Oregon’s Universal Mail-In Voting Transformed Civic Participation. Here’s How
Oregon Secretary of State – Voting in Oregon

Groups Taking Action:
Vote at Home Institute,  Next Up Oregon, Coalition of Communities of Color, Disability Rights Oregon,

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VoteatHome #OregonPolitics #VotingRights #FreedomtoVote

The post Oregon Expands Automatic Voter Registration, Protects Voters Who Move In-State From Losing Eligibility, and Seeks Funding for Dropbox Security appeared first on American Democracy Minute.