The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 6, 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.

Wisconsin’s attorney general announced felony forgery charges against three Trump fake elector scheme organizers on June 4th.  Wisconsin is the fifth state to bring criminal charges in the scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election, though Wisconsin’s 10 fake electors have yet to be charged.

Two Trump attorneys, Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis, and Trump campaign staffer Mike Roman, are charged with Class H felonies for forgery, with maximum sentences of 6 years in jail and a $10,000 fine, according to the Wisconsin Examiner.  One of the alleged architects of the fake elector scheme, Chesebro cooperated with federal authorities, and reportedly spoke to Michigan, Georgia and Arizona investigators.  Troupis, a former Dane County judge, and Roman, a Trump campaign aide, allegedly prepared and facilitated delivery of the documents.  

The AG’s complaint reads:   QUOTE  On December 16, 2020, Defendant Troupis, Defendant Chesebro and others traveled by chartered jet to Washington, D.C., for a meeting at the White House in the Oval Office involving then-President Trump. In an email two days later, Defendant Troupis reminded Defendant Chesebro that “nothing about our meeting with the President can be shared with anyone.” UNQUOTE

The three defendants face arraignment on Sept. 19th.  Only a civil suit has been brought so far against the 10 alleged Wisconsin signers of the false electoral certification document.      

Read the Wisconsin AG’s criminal complaint and the signed fake elector document at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Wisconsin Examiner – Wisconsin AG Kaul files felony charges against Trump associates in fake elector scheme
Associated Press – Wisconsin attorney general files felony charges against attorneys, aide who worked for Trump in 2020
Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office – Criminal Complaints Against Chesbro, Troupis & Roman
National Archives – Alleged Faked Certification submitted by Wisconsin Republicans
Law Forward – Timeline of Alleged Fake Elector Scheme

Groups Taking Action
Law Forward,  Common Cause WI, States United Democracy Center

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #WisconsinNews #WisconsinPolitics #FakeElectors #TrumpCriminalTrials #FakeElectorScheme

The post Wisconsin AG Files Forgery Charges Against Three Trump Alleged Fake Elector Organizers; No Charges Yet Against Signers appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 26, 2023

Today’s Script: 
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

Today’s Links now located below the script

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

May 29th ends the Texas legislature’s term, and we have a little bit of good news, some bad news, and some hopeful news. On the upside, more funding for poll workers and improvements to mail-in voting.  On the downside, withdrawal from ERIC, the voter registration crosscheck system.

Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 1052 which compensates poll workers for work before the polls open, and the Texas House passed SB 1599, improving tracking of mail-in ballots, and more options to fix vote-by-mail applications and ballots before election day.  The bill goes back to the Senate for approval.

As Votebeat Texas reports, it’s not all good news.  A bill setting rules for  an alternative to the multi-state Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, is poised for passage by the Texas House.  ERIC’s system identified over 900,000 Texas voters who were duplicated, had moved, or died, to keep voter rolls clean.  But conspiracy-driven activists have pushed states to pull out of ERIC, despite no comparable alternatives.

Pro-democracy groups are hopeful that some bills will DIE with the end of the legislative term:  Making it a felony for ineligible citizens who vote – even inadvertently; ending countywide voting, and giving the Secretary of State the power to order a new election – a bill targeting only liberal-leaning Harris County.

We have more on the Texas legislation at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org,where you can also sign up for the daily report by email.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Texas Legislature –  SB 1070 – Withdrawal from ERIC

Texas Legislature via Voting Rights Lab –  SB 1052 – Compensation for Poll Workers
Texas Legislature via Voting Rights Lab – SB 1599 – Mail-In Voting Application and Ballot Curing Options
Texas Legislature via Voting Rights Lab – SB 2 – Increasing Penalty for Ineligible Voting to a Felony
Texas Legislature via Voting Rights Lab –  SB 990 – Eliminating County-wide Voting

Texas Tribune – Texas House’s weekend off means key Senate bills die after missing a legislative deadline

Groups Taking Action:
Move Texas, League of Women Voters TX,  ACLU Texas, Mi Familia Vota, OCA Houston 

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotingRights

The post The Texas Legislature’s Session Ends May 29th with Democracy Bills Pending at the Deadline appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 27, 2022

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Electoral Count Reform Act Passes; ADM Reviews Democracy Wins & Losses for 2022

Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
CNN –  Congress passes first legislative response to January 6 Capitol attack
Center for Public Integrity – A headlong rush by states to attack voting access — or expand it
The Guardian/Reveal – New US state voting laws present most intense voter suppression threat in decades
Associated Press – No major problems with ballot drop boxes in 2020, AP finds

Groups Taking Action:
League of Women Voters US,  When We All Vote, Mi Familia Vota, Protect Democracy

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.

First, a headline: Congress has passed the Electoral Count Reform Act as part of the $1.7 trillion dollar federal spending bill awaiting President Biden’s signature this week. This is the most significant democracy reform of the year, and helps prevent another subversion attempt in our Presidential election process.

This week, we’re going to recap some of the 2022 democracy wins and losses around the U.S. The Center for Public Integrity reports that 26 states, quote “worsened equity in voting and representation.” Twenty states and Washington, DC improved access to elections, and four other states didn’t change much.

Among the states adding restrictions, 14 added enhanced election policing, with Florida adding an election division to their state police force, and several other states elevating voting infractions to felony offenses. New Hampshire passed legislation to investigate election officials for misconduct. Texas has already proposed a 2023 bill for its own election police force.

Ballot drop boxes and dropping off another person’s ballot also came under attack in several states, mostly due to former President Trump’s accusations and a debunked documentary called 2000 Mules, which suggested that drop boxes were used to drop fraudulent ballots. Nineteen states restricted who could drop off a ballot. In a multi-state investigation, the Associated Press reported that no significant voter fraud occurred as a result of the use of drop boxes.

Articles & details at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. More tomorrow on the American Democracy Minute. I’m Brian Beihl.

The post <strong>Electoral Count Reform Act Passes; ADM Reviews Democracy Wins & Losses for 2022</strong> appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 14, 2022

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

NBC News – Texas Republicans propose a Florida-style election police force as it tees up more changes to voting laws

Texas Tribune – Texas lawmakers target property taxes, election fraud and transgender people in new legislation ahead of 2023 session
The Texan – Illegal Voting Felonies, ‘Save Women’s Sports Act,’ and School Choice Among Bills Filed on First Day of Pre-Filing
Texas Tribution – 2021’s SB1  The hard-fought Texas voting bill is poised to become law. Here’s what it does.

Groups Taking Action:

Texas Voter Protection, Texas Civil Rights Project, Mi Familia Vota

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.

It’s not yet January and the 2023 election and voting bills are already piling up in Texas like tumbleweeds.  Many of these bills are designed to prevent voter fraud, which already is as rare in Texas as the Jackalope.

NBC News and the Texas Tribune report that over 62 bills have been prefiled in the legislature, many designed to increase oversight of elections and step up penalties for voting illegally.   The Houston Chronicle estimates that Texas election officials spent 22,000 hours looking for voter fraud after the 2020 election, resulting in only 16 voters with fraudulent addresses on registration forms.   

HB 39 is one of five Republican-sponsored bills which increases voting related crimes from a misdemeanor to a felony.   SB 220 is one of two bills which creates  “election marshals,” similar to Florida’s new state police division investigating election fraud.   Florida’s force made its first arrests in August, only to have most of the charges dismissed due to the state’s own mistakes.

While states like Nevada & Alaska recently took steps to use a single ballot open primary system, HB 239 would close Texas primaries, requiring separate ballots for each party.   Open ballot primaries offer voters more choice, give third party candidates a chance, and tend to support centrist candidates, rather than extremists.

With a Republican House, Senate & Governor, these restrictions could pass later next year.

See articles outlining other proposed Texas voting bills at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post 2023 Texas Bills Propose More Restrictions, Penalties, Oversight, and an Election Police Force appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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Today’s Links:
Articles:   
Reuters Exclusive: Trump-backed Michigan attorney general candidate involved in voting-system breach, documents show
Detroit News – Nessel’s office seeks special prosecutor in election ‘conspiracy’ probe of DePerno, others
Reuters – “Exclusive: Michigan widens probe into voting system breaches by Trump allies”
Michigan Live – State Police expand investigation into alleged voting machine tampering after 2020 election
Organizations Taking Action:   Promote the Vote MI, ACLU Michigan, Voters Not Politicians

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

An update on a story we brought you in June.  Michigan’s current Attorney General has been investigating voting machine tampering in four townships by groups attempting to turn up evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election.   Turns out, the 2022 GOP nominee for Attorney General allegedly led at least one of the groups.

Reuters and Michigan Live had reported in June that search warrants were issued and town clerks interviewed by investigators in 11 townships in several counties.  In an attempt to find evidence which corroborated President Trump’s false claims of voter fraud,  unauthorized third parties were allowed to examine voting machines.  At least five other vote tabulators were taken away to hotels in Oakland County where they were broken into by four individuals who have now been identified.  

In an update on August 8, Reuters has evidence that the Trump-endorsed candidate for Michigan Attorney General, Matthew DePerno, led a group which examined a vote tabulating machine from Richfield Township, a small conservative-leaning town in Roscommon County.    It is a felony under Michigan law to seek or provide unauthorized access to voting equipment.

The Detroit News reports that current Attorney General Dana Nessel will likely face DePerno in November, so she has called for a special prosecutor to pursue what she called a conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to the machines.  

Articles and groups taking action are at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.

Granny D said Democracy is not something we have, it’s something we DO.   

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

The post American Democracy Minute for Aug. 10, 2022: GOP Nominee for Michigan AG Allegedly Led Group Illegally Examining Voting Machines  appeared first on American Democracy Minute.