The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 14, 2025

Today’s Script

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

While attacks on democracy norms ensue in Washington, state legislatures have also been busy.  We have updates from Utah, Kansas, Indiana, and an update on the contested North Carolina Supreme Court race. 

Voting Rights Lab reports that the Utah House is considering HB 300, which forces mail-in ballot users to deliver their ballot not by mail, but by hand to an official polling place where ID can be presented.  The elderly, disabled, and other voters for whom returning by mail is their only option, would need to seek special permission.  HB 332 would withdraw Utah from the cooperative Electronic Registration Data Center, the subject of far right conspiracy theories.  

The Kansas Senate passed SB 4, which requires receipt of mail-in ballots by 7 pm election day to count, rather than the current three days after.  An Indiana Senate committee advanced SB 284,  shortening early in-person voting from 28 days to 14 days, ending at noon the day before election day. The full Senate passed SB 10, ending use of school-issued student identification as ID for voting. 

In North Carolina, a district court judge dismissed a claim by a state supreme court candidate that in a race he lost by 734 votes, as many as 65,000 voters were ineligible.  A federal appeals court may revisit it.

We’ve linked the Voting Rights Lab’s state tracker at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Voting Rights Lab – The Markup
Voting Rights Lab – Bill Search

Utah State Legislature – HB 300 –  provides that, after a ballot is mailed to a voter, the voter is, subject to certain exceptions, required to return the ballot in person to a polling place where the voter must provide valid voter identification;
Utah State Legislature – HB 289 – authorizes the lieutenant governor to contract with a third-party to maintain voter rolls;
Kansas House (via VRL) – SB 4 – Requiring all advance voting ballots be returned by 7:00 p.m. on election day.

Indiana Senate – SB 284 – Reduces the period during which in person absentee voting may occur to a 14 day period ending at noon on the day before election day.
The Carolina Journal – Trial judge rejects Griffin’s NC Supreme Court ballot challenges

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU of Utah,  Democracy NC, Common Cause Indiana, Loud Light Kansas

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #KansasNews #IndianaNews #NCNews, #UtahNews

The post State Updates on Bills Shortening Early Voting and Changing Mail-in Ballot Requirements, and the Contested NC Supreme Court Race Lawsuit appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 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.

Last year, we followed the exodus of nine states from the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, driven by baseless conspiracy theories. The states which left are finding it hard and expensive to replace ERIC’s expertise.   At least one state wants back in.

ERIC, then a 31-state cooperative founded in 2012, finds duplicate, deceased and moving voters.  In 2022, conservative conspiracy theorists claimed ERIC was controlled by liberal billionaire George Soros.  Election deniers pressured election officials and legislators in Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia, who caved and pulled out of ERIC.  

Then came the hangover.  Great reporting by the Center for Public Integrity and Votebeat shows states buying more expensive data services, creating their own, or entering into agreements with nearby states.  

EagleAI, a service pushed by the same conspiracy theorists, compares publicly-available information like death notices, but reportedly had false positives and security issues.  Texas created its own system, which Votebeat reported costs as much as ERIC, but exchanges less data with fewer states.  Virginia paid a private data processing company, which rented outside data lists.  Some states agreed to exchange data, but Votebeat reporting suggests the lists are cleaned less often. 

BallotPedia reports that the Virginia legislature is considering returning the state to the ERIC cooperative, while California and Hawaii are considering joining.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
NPR – (2023) How the far right tore apart one of the best tools to fight voter fraud
Democracy Docket – Cleta Mitchell Couldn’t Overturn the 2020 Election, So Now She’s Suppressing Voters
American Oversight – AMERICAN OVERSIGHT RELEASES REPORT ON ANTI-ERIC PUSH AND ITS THREAT TO 2024 ELECTION 
Votebeat via Louisiana Illuminator – Documents show Republican-led states struggling to clean voter rolls after leaving ERIC
Center for Public Integrity – States ditched an election partnership. Voters will feel the consequences.
BallotPedia – 2024 Voter list maintenance legislation

Groups Taking Action:
Brennan Center for Justice, Campaign Legal Center, ACLU Ohio, League of Women Voters

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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 #ERIC #ElectionIntegrity #ConspiracyTheories #ElectionDeniers

The post After Caving to Conspiracy Theorists, States Which Left ERIC Now Using  Weaker & More Expensive Alternatives; At Least One State May Rejoin ERIC. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 7, 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.

Far right activists pushing fringe conspiracy theories pressured red state legislatures and election officials to pull out of the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC.  But proposed “election integrity” alternatives fall far short of ERIC, and are likely to be more expensive.

In the past year, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia, Iowa, Alabama and Louisiana pulled out of the interstate voter information cooperative after activists convinced state officials that ERIC was somehow tainted by liberal funder George Soros.  Most of those states still haven’t developed an alternative, leaving voter rolls less accurate, and vulnerable to mistakes or fraud.

At least two alternative computer services,  EagleAI and Fractal, are being touted by right wing activists, but neither appear to have been adopted by state officials.  Alabama announced its Alabama Voter Integrity Database, or AVID, in September.  AVID is somewhat similar to ERIC, but relies on comparing data with only a handful of states. One election expert told NPR that the interstate agreements made by Alabama and other states don’t include critical DMV data.  Another expert from the Alliance for Securing Democracy writing in The Fulcrum also raised questions about encryption of data during storage and transit.  

Shortcomings aside, the actual cost of re-inventing the “election integrity” wheel is yet to be seen.  We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Brennan Center for Justice – States Cave to Conspiracy Theories and Leave Voter Data Cooperative, ERICHeritage Foundation – Maintaining Accurate Voter Registration Rolls: The Need to Rehabilitate the ERIC Program or Form an Alternative
Votebeat Texas – Texas resigns from ERIC, a national program that keeps voter rolls updated
KY3 News – Missouri Sec. of State defends withdrawal from multi-state election security system
Huffington Post – 9 Republican States Left A Bipartisan Election Integrity Group. Now, They’re Struggling To Replace It.
NPR – Republican states swore off a voting tool. Now they’re scrambling to recreate it
States of OH & West Virginia –  Memo of Understanding for Sharing Voter Data
Virginia Mercury – After ERIC withdrawal, Virginia strikes deals with 6 states to share voter data
Brennan Center for Justice – EagleAI is the latest effort by election deniers to use the upkeep of voter rolls as a vehicle to disenfranchise voters and spread disinformation.

Groups Taking Action:
Campaign Legal Center, ACLU OH, Missouri Voter Protection Coalition,

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #Disinformation #ElectionDisinformation

The post States Bailing Out of ERIC are Reinventing the “Election Integrity” Wheel, But With Less Accurate and Likely More Expensive Results appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 23, 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.

Nine conservative-leaning states have pulled out of ERIC, a cooperative of states which uses advanced computer matching to keep voter rolls clean.  Now, a group of GOP activists is launching its own system called EagleAI NETwork and pitching it to counties and states – and for use by activists in “challenging” voter eligibility.

NBC News and the Atlanta Journal Constitution, tipped off by video presentations to GOP activists obtained by watchdog Documented, reported that the rollout of the effort is being aided by former Trump election lawyer Cleta Mitchell.  NPR reported that Mitchell helped seed doubt and encouraged states to pull out of ERIC.  As we’ve reported, Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network and other conservative groups have lobbied state legislatures like North Carolina’s to aggressively pass laws allowing more poll observers, public access to voter information, and a loosening of rules allowing challenges to voter eligibility.   

The founders of the EagleAI NETwork, spelled EagleA-I, were recorded pitching the system to activists, specifically mentioning that the system would flag eligibility of voters at homeless shelters and nursing homes, according to NBC. 

One of EagleAI’s founders says the group is in talks with Georgia counties.  In a statement to NBC News, Georgia Election Director Blake Evans said, “Eagle AI data offers zero additional value to Georgia’s existing list maintenance procedures.”

We’ve linked our sources at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
NBC News – Inside the right’s effort to build a voter fraud hunting tool
NPR – How the far right tore apart one of the best tools to fight voter fraud

New Brunswick News/Atlanta Journal Constitution – Georgia company EagleAI pursues multistate voter registration cancellations
Documented – Meet “Eagle AI,” the Cleta Mitchell-Backed MAGA Mass Voter Challenge Program
Campaign Legal Center – What Is ERIC, and Why Is It Critical for Our Democracy?

Groups Taking Action:

Issue One, Common Cause Georgia, Center for Election Innovation & Research, Protect Democracy

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE! 
Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #FreedomtoVote

The post GOP Activists Are Pitching an Alternative to ERIC for Voter List Maintenance. But it Could Also Be Used for Voter Suppression. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for July 25, 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, Texas became the ninth state to officially withdraw from the multi-state voter registration cooperative called ERIC, recently the target of fringe conspiracy theories. But, Texas doesn’t yet have a replacement.

Votebeat Texas reports that the Texas Secretary of State’s office gave its 91-day notice to withdraw from the Electronic Registration Information Center, joining Iowa, Missouri, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Virginia and West Virginia. 

ERIC is a nonprofit cooperative founded and run by states to keep their registration lists clean, identifying voters who have moved, died – or in very rare cases – registered in two places.  

ERIC came under fire when a non-voting board member, formerly of Pew Trusts, moved to Mark Zuckerberg’s foundation, which provided grants to fund municipal election offices during the pandemic.  Another misguided theory claims the original funding from Pew Trusts for ERIC, came in part from Billionaire philanthropist George Soros.  

SB 1070, effective this September 1st, lays out requirements for a system to replace ERIC in Texas.  Problem is, there are no alternatives as effective.   Votebeat Texas reported that June 2022 data from ERIC helped Texas election officials identify 100,000 in-state duplicates, and another 100,000 possible out-of-state duplicates.   

While chasing fringe conspiracy theories, it appears Texas legislators left their state with less election integrity, not more.  

We have a link to articles on ERIC at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Texas Secretary of State – (2020) Statement After Joining Texas Joined ERIC
Texas Tribune/Votebeat Texas – Conspiracy theory whirlwind threatens to blow Texas out of national program that keeps voter rolls updated
Texas Tribune/Votebeat Texas – Texas set to exit multistate program that cleans voter rolls
Votebeat Texas – Texas resigns from ERIC, a national program that keeps voter rolls updated
Votebeat Texas – Letter Withdrawing Texas from ERIC
LegiScan – Text for SB 1070
Associated Press – Texas is largest state to leave bipartisan national effort to prevent voter fraud
National Conference of State Legislators – More Withdrawals From Voter Data Group ERIC Likely

Groups Taking Action:
Campaign Legal Center, Brennan Center for Justice, League of Women Voters

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FreedomtoVote #VotingRights

The post Texas Withdraws from ERIC, But the State Has Yet to Implement an Alternative to Keep Its Voter Lists Clean appeared first on American Democracy Minute.