The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for July 8, 2024

Brian’s on vacation this week, so we’re re-running a series from fall of 2022 on why people don’t vote. The more we understand it, the more efficient we can be in changing their minds!

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.

This week we’re looking at the reasons why people don’t vote.   A 2020 survey by political research site FiveThirtyEight.com found that many just don’t like the candidate, some have to wait in line for hours, and some, well, they just don’t think their vote makes a difference.  

In fact, a perception that voting wouldn’t make a difference is one of the biggest reasons people don’t bother to vote.   Another survey by NPR, also done in 2020, looked at that in detail.  It found that 80% of nonvoters thought that traditional parties and politicians didn’t care about them, and 66% thought that voting in elections didn’t really affect how decisions were made in the country.   And 53% of nonvoters said that it didn’t matter who was elected President, because nothing would really change for people like them.

Both surveys found that the number of nonvoters increased, as income decreased.  NPR found that in household incomes of $50,000 dollars or less, 43% of citizens surveyed were nonvoters.  52% of nonvoters don’t have a high school education.  Nonvoters are likely to be young, and more likely NOT to be married.

Nonvoters in both surveys said they were more likely to vote if Election Day were a national holiday, as proposed in the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.  Both bills were blocked by conservatives in the U.S. Senate.

Links to articles and the surveys can be found at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org  

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

 FiveThirtyEight.com – Why Many Americans Don’t Vote
NPR – Poll: Despite Record Turnout, 80 Million Americans Didn’t Vote. Here’s Why
CNBC – ‘I don’t plan to vote ever again’: The psychology of why so many people don’t vote, even in 2020

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

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Vote #BeaVoter #GoVote

Civic Engagement Elections Freedom to Vote Voter Registration
Tags 538 Don’t think Voting Matters FiveThirtyEight.com non voters Nonvoters NPR NPR.org Why Americans Don’t Vote Why Citizens Don’t vote

The post Why People Don’t Vote Week: Surveys Show Many Nonvoters Don’t Think Their Vote Matters appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 30, 2023

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
FiveThirtyEight.com – Has Your State Made It Harder To Vote?
Heritage Foundation – Three Cases of Voter Fraud Since 2002

Arkansas Legislature – HB 1411 – Banning the “Pre-emptive” Sending of Absentee Ballots
Arkansas Legislature –  HB 258 – Eliminating Drop Boxes
Arkansas Legislature –  SB 250 – Limiting Ballot Counting to 24 hours, et. al.
Arkansas Legislature – HB 1715 (2021)  Absentee Ballot Restrictions
Arkansas Times – Did Arkansas’s new voting restrictions affect turnout?

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU of Arkansas, League of Women Voters Arkansas, Get Loud Arkansas, ForARPeople, Arkansas United, Indivisible Little Rock & Central Arkansas

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.

If you live in Arkansas, three bills just signed by the Governor just made voting more complicated for the state’s vulnerable citizens who use absentee ballots – and the election workers who count those ballots.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed HB 1411 this week, prohibiting the “proactive” sending of absentee ballots by election officials, criminalizing it as a misdemeanor.  Some pro-voter states allow permanent vote-by-mail lists, aiding disabled and elderly voters.  

If you receive your absentee ballot, you’ll no longer have access to drop boxes to return it.  Where some states restricted them only to secure locations, Arkansas has banned them altogether with SB 258, joining South Dakota’s similar ban, signed this month.  

It’s true that processing mail-in ballots take longer than in-person ballots, which is why since the height of the pandemic, many states allowed mail ballots to be preprocessed before election day.  Arkansas?  SB 250 mandates that the count be completed, QUOTE, “within twenty-four hours of the close of the polls, and with no significant breaks in the counting process.” 

This is on top of 2021’s HB 1715, which added extra absentee verification requirements and made the returning of four or more absentee ballots an act of voter fraud.  

The conservative Heritage Foundation counts only three cases of voter fraud since 2002.

We have links to Arkansas’ new laws, and the groups taking action 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 <strong>Arkansas Governor Signs More Absentee Ballot Restrictions, Including the Banning of Drop Boxes</strong> appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 13, 2023

Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
National Task Force on Election Crises – Full Report & Recommendations – Lessons from the 2022 General Election: How to Prevent Election Crises, and Emerging Issues for 2023, 2024, and Beyond
National Task Force on Election Crises – Website, Recommendations & Resources

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.

A coalition of over 50 democracy groups, academics, former government officials, and technical experts released recommendations for 2023 and 2024 election preparation in a February 9th report.

In a succinct, powerful and excellent report, The National Task Force on Election Crises lays out the damage to democracy sustained during the 2020 election and its aftermath, an analysis of the 2022 midterm election, and dozens of recommendations for shoring up our American democracy’s foundation.

Recommendations include sustaining proven election options such as early and mail-in voting; proper funding of election personnel, security and equipment; protection of voters and election officials from violence and intimidation; continued hardening from cyber attacks; and better coordination between community leaders and law enforcement throughout campaigns to ensure the right to vote for all voters.

To build election confidence, the report recommends diverse, well-trained poll workers; speeding up results when possible – including early pre-processing of mail ballots; making sure mail-in ballot deadlines are consistent with the Postal Service’s ability to deliver; and using paper ballots so voters can review them prior to tabulation.

The report also asks for social media platforms and candidates to be held accountable for spreading election disinformation, and for campaign attorneys pushing frivolous lawsuits. There are many other recommendations we weren’t able to cover, so we’ve posted the full report and a link to the Task Force’s website at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post <strong>National Task force on Election Crises Releases Report & Recommendations to Shore Up Democracy Prior to 2024</strong> appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for February 7, 2023

Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Politico – Florida eyes more changes to voting laws ahead of 2024
Newsweek – Trump Does Complete 180 on Election Issue
Florida Secretary of State – Report by the Department of State
On Vote-By-Mail Voting – Security, Privacy and Election Transparency

Groups Taking Action:
League of Women Voters FL, Fair Districts Now,  All Voting is Local FL, Florida Rising, Disability Rights FL

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.

After last year’s implementation of an election police force, restriction of drop boxes, and defending the racial gerrymandering of a northern Florida Congressional district, the DeSantis administration is back at it, this time with more restrictions on mail-in voting.

Politico writes that in a 60-page report, Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd made a series of recommendations making it harder to vote by mail, which 2.7 million Florida voters – many elderly – used in 2022. Byrd recommends additional ID information, including a full Florida drivers license number, Florida ID card, or the last four digits of a Social Security number be added when submitting an absentee ballot APPLICATION, in addition to requiring it for the ballot. The report also recommends ending the ability to request an absentee ballot application by phone – even for registered voters for whom there has been no change of address.

Signature verification is already used on returned absentee ballots, but Byrd also recommends election officials match signatures on ballot APPLICATIONS as well.

And in a complete about face, Newsweek reports that former President and Florida resident Donald Trump posted his endorsement of ballot drop boxes last week, provided they were behind churches.

A reminder to listeners that incidents of voter fraud are exceptionally rare.

Find the Florida recommendations, the Trump post, and more resources at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

The post More Mail-In Voting Restrictions Proposed in FL — But Florida Resident Donald Trump Apparently Flips Position on Drop Boxes appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for December 1, 2022

Listen!

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Fair Vote – RANKED CHOICE VOTING
Better Ballots Georgia – What is Instant Runoff Voting?
The Advocate – Letters: An ‘instant’ fix for Louisiana’s ruined runoffs? a ranked-choice voting ballot

State of Maine – Ranked-choice voting in Maine: Frequently Asked Questions
Axios – A proposed way out of Georgia’s runoffs
RCV123 – Ranked choice voting groups around the country
Groups Taking Action:
Fair Vote, Better Ballot Georgia, Ranked Choice Louisiana 

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.

As we approach the December 6th runoff election for U.S. Senate in Georgia, we’ve been discussing runoffs:  What they are, and where they’re used.  One type of runoff is gaining popularity in states, counties and cities across the country – Instant Runoff or Ranked Choice Voting elections.  

Regular top-two runoff elections usually have a much lower turnout, but the expensive infrastructure for an election still has to be there.   Municipalities must pay poll workers and officials, retain polling places like schools, churches, and arenas, and provide police protection.  One of the benefits of Ranked Choice Voting is built into the choices you make on a regular election day, and doesn’t require a separate runoff election.

As the name suggests, voters rank their choices in order of preference.  If one candidate receives a 50%+1 vote majority as first choice, that person is the winner.  If no candidate reaches that threshold, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and each of those votes are applied to that voter next highest choice, and the percentages recalculated.  That process continues until there is a candidate with the 50% +1 majority.

The State of Alaska just implemented ranked choice voting and open primaries earlier this year.   Nevada just took its first step toward ranked choice on November 8th, and Seattle just passed it for city elections.  

We have more information on how  instant runoff ranked choice voting works at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post Another Kind of Runoff Election is Growing — Instant Runoff Ranked Choice Voting appeared first on American Democracy Minute.