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

Gerrymandering, the manipulation of voting district boundaries to engineer an election outcome which benefits a particular party, had a significant impact on control of the new Congress, according to a new report. 

The Brennan Center for Justice found over four of five Congressional districts were won by a margin over 10%, including 90 percent of the GOP House majority.   Within that number, 132 GOP winners were in districts with winning margins of 25% or more, and 112 by a Democrat.  

In comparison, only 37 districts nationwide were decided by five percent or less, and only 19 districts were competitive enough to flip.  

The Brennan Center points to North Carolina as a state which, after a more liberal Supreme Court was flipped conservative in 2022, replaced the previous court’s 7 to 7 competitive maps, with the legislature’s gerrymandered version, resulting in a 10 to 4 GOP Congressional seat advantage.   

The most effective solution to gerrymandering at the moment is citizen-led independent redistricting, which has been successful in producing fairer and more competitive maps in California, Michigan, Utah and a handful of other states. In November, Ohio voters rejected such a commission, due in part to an attempt by elected officials to derail it.   Brennan found that independent commissions, citizen-led or otherwise, drew only 82 Congressional districts this cycle, but those districts were three times more competitive. 

We have the Brennan Center’s report at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Brennan Center for Justice – How Gerrymandering and Fair Maps Affected the Battle for the House
FactCheck.org – Speaker Johnson’s Partisan Spin on Gerrymandering in the 2024 Election
National Conference of State Legislatures – Redistricting Commissions: State Legislative Plans
Campaign Legal Center – Independent Redistricting Commissions

Campaign Legal Center – Movement to Establish Citizen-Led Redistricting Commissions in the States
California Citizens Redistricting Commission – What is the Commission?

Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause, Represent.Us, League of Women Voters US

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #EndGerrymandering #FairMaps #RiggedDistricts

The post New Report Shows Gerrymandering’s Impact on Control of the New Congress  appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 16, 2024

Brian is gone today.  The current climate suggests that further VRA destruction is imminent, so expect pro-democracy states who’ve not already implemented state VRAs to act rapidly in 2025.

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.

We reported recently on the impact of Shelby County v. Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court majority’s decision invalidating Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.  Anticipating even more erosion of the VRA, some states have passed their own state VRAs. 

It’s not only the dismantling of Section 5, the preclearance requirements for states with a history of discrimination.  The conservative justices also just made proving racial gerrymandering harder under Section 2, and they’ve made it easier for a state legislature to dilute minority voting power.  And in the lower courts, more cases attempting to keep individual voters from bringing voting rights lawsuits under the VRA are pending. 

With dwindling protections from the federal government, California, Washington, Oregon, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Minnesota, have enacted State VRAs. Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, and Florida have efforts underway. 

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund recommends that state VRAs should have preclearance requirements for counties or municipalities which have patterns of discrimination.  Rules should include a prohibition against vote denial or dilution through gerrymandering; strong protections against intimidation or deception; language assistance; a statewide database to make evidence-based decisions on election administration; and a directive to the state judiciary to support pro-voter and pro-democracy decisions.

We have the Legal Defense Fund’s recommendations and links to state VRAs at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
NAACP Legal Defense Fund – State Voting Rights Acts Provide Critical Protections to Black Voters and Other Voters of Color
Campaign Legal Center – Protecting the Freedom to Vote Through State Voting Rights Acts
Center for American Progress – The Protection of Voting Rights Requires State Action

State of Oregon via Casetext – Text of the Oregon Voting Right Act
State of Connecticut – Text of the Connecticut Voting Rights Act
NAACP Legal Defense Fund – Proposed Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Voting Rights Act of Florida (FLVRA)
NAACP Legal Defense Fund – The Proposed New Jersey Voting Rights Act (NJVRA)
Democracy Docket – Several States Look To Pass Their Own Voting Rights Acts

Groups Taking Action:

NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU,  Campaign Legal Center, MALDEF, Voters Not Politicians

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and please SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotingRightsAct #StateVRA #FreedomtoVote

The post With the SCOTUS Majority Intent on Dismantling the Voting Rights Act, Pro-Democracy States are Enacting State VRAs appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 5, 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.

Just days before the Nov. 2023 election, the chair of the Shasta County, CA Board of Supervisors was threatening to defy a new California law, and hand count ballots instead of using an electronic ballot tabulator.  The county supervisors blinked.

Shasta County has over 111,000 registered voters, but as we’ve reported, county supervisors severed the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems.  The county’s registrar of voters estimated that a manual count would require almost 87,000 hours by over 1,200 election workers – at a cost of $1.65 Million dollars.  Hand counting is considered less accurate and more expensive by election experts.

CalMatters reports that Oct. 4th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that restricts hand counting to limited situations, and prohibits manual counts in elections larger than 1,000 registered voters, or 5,000 for special elections.  After County Board Chair Patrick Henry Jones reportedly suggested the county would not follow the new law, the California Secretary of State issued a warning making clear the state would take action if it didn’t.  The State sent monitors to ensure compliance, and the election was conducted with no issues using new tabulators at a cost of $950,000 dollars.

Other hand counting challenges by election deniers persisted in recent weeks in New Hampshire, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Shasta County – Analysis of Manual Tally Options for Shasta County
CalMatters – Why Shasta County is at center of California voting, again

Redding Record Searchlight – Shasta supervisors talk pay raises, Hart voting machines
Los Angeles Times – Shasta County ditched its Dominion voting machines. Now, residents are braced for turmoil on Nov. 7
The Guardian –  The California county where far-right officials tried to upend voting
Democracy Groups  – Requests for action in Shasta County in advance of the November 2023 and
March 2024 elections
CA Sec. of State – Letter, RE: Shasta County November 7, 2023, Election
Democracy Docket – California’s Shasta County Abandons Plan To Hand Count Election
Concord, NH  Monitor – NH Supreme Court considers case about ballot-counting machines draws a crowd
Democracy Docket – New Report Sheds Light on Hand Counting Ballots Ahead of 2024

Groups Taking Action:
ACLU Foundation of Northern CA, CA Common Cause,  CA Voter Foundation, Voting Rights Practice Group, Disability Rights CA, League of Women Voters of CA  

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ElectionDeniers #ProtectPollWorkers #CaliforniaPolitics

The post Shasta County Almost Hand-Counted Its Ballots in November. Instead, it Lost an Expensive Game of Election Denial Chicken with the State of California appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

While New York’s bipartisan redistricting commission struggled, the successful California Citizen Redistricting Commission maps were passed unanimously in 2021 with no litigation.  New York’s commission deadlocked, and was overruled by a Democratic-dominated legislature which drew its own gerrymandered maps. Those were later thrown out by the court, and the Congressional map is STILL being contested.  

Unlike New York’s 10-person, politically-appointed board, California uses an extensive application process for its 14-person board, using the California State Auditor’s office to review and recommend 120 qualified candidates.  The top 60 candidates are put into pools of Democrats, Republicans and Unaffiliated. The California Assembly is then allowed to strike up to eight candidates per pool.  The remaining candidates are the first eight members, who choose the remaining six members, two out of each of three pools. 

Unlike New York, California’s commission follows strict rules about “communities of interest,” putting shared common interests like water systems and school districts over mapping for partisan power.  While analysis by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project shows a Democratic lean versus other map options, proposed state assembly, senate, and Congressional maps received a unanimous vote of the commission.   There were NO court challenges to the maps.

One more big difference:  While New York’s legislature could overrule its commission, California’s Commission has the final say.

Find out more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
New York Independent Redistricting Commission – Background on the Commission
Brennan Center for Justice – What Went Wrong with New York’s Redistricting
California Secretary of State – California Redistricting
California Citizen Redistricting Commission – What is the Commission?
California Citizen Redistricting Commission –  REPORT ON FINAL MAPS
CalMatters – No legal battles for California’s new election maps. But what lessons can be learned?
Princeton Gerrymandering Project – California

Groups Taking Action:
ACLU or Northern California, Common Cause, League of Women Voters CA, #CaliforniaPolitics

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FairMaps #EndGerrymandering #CitizenRedistricting #CaliforniaPolitics

The post Why was California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission Successful, While New York’s Commission Resulted in Gerrymandering & Court Cases? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 25, 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.

We have updates on stories we’ve been following, including Arizona candidate Kari Lake’s election challenge, and Shasta County, California’s decision to hand count ballots.

First to Arizona, where Monday, the remaining claim in Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s lawsuit challenging her loss has finally been dismissed.  Lake, who disputed the 2020 Presidential election then her own 2022 election,  contended that signatures on mail-in ballots weren’t properly verified, a claim for which the judge said she had provided no credible evidence that violated the law.  Lake lost the election to Gov. Katie Hobbs by over 17,000 votes.  It’s unclear whether Lake will appeal.

Last week, a recall of Shasta County, California Commissioner Kevin Crye moved forward, with approval of the recall petition language.   KRCR reports that a citizens group now must collect over 4100 signatures to put the recall on the November ballot.  Crye is allied with MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell.

Crye and the conservative majority of the Shasta County Commission voted in March to replace existing Dominion Voting Systems tabulators with a system to hand-count ballots, at a cost of almost $1 Million dollars.   Shasta County has 111,000 registered voters, and hand counting is expected to take over a week and cost the county tens of thousands more in labor costs.   

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Courthouse News Service – Kari Lake loses election challenge
Democracy Docket – Arizona Judge Issues Final Blow to Kari Lake’s Six-Month Election Contest

NBC News – (2022) Arizona Governor’s Race Results
KRCR – A look inside Shasta County’s voting change; what state, local officials are saying
KRCR – Petition to recall Shasta County Supervisor Kevin Crye passes review “with flying colors”
Sacramento Bee – In Shasta County, moderate Republicans and union organizers push back on ‘far-right extremism’

Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause Arizona, States United Democracy Center, Recall Kevin Crye,  United Public Employees of California

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Get ADM Radio Report email!  Sign up here!

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ElectionDeniers

The post Election Denier Updates: AZ Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Loses Election Challenge; Shasta County CA Commissioner Recall Moves Forward appeared first on American Democracy Minute.