The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 13, 2025

Nevada Senate Bill 406, made it a felony to harass or intimidate election workers.  In a federal appeals court March 7th, four right wing activists claimed that the law is too vague, and could allow THEM to be unfairly intimidated against participating in the election process.

SB 403, signed by Republican Governor Joe Lombardo in May 2023, was unanimously passed in both houses of the legislature after threats to Nevada election workers following the 2020 and 2022 elections.  Under the new law, individuals who intend to interfere with the conduct of an election, or retaliate against election officials could face up to four years in prison.  It also protects election workers from “doxing,” by disseminating their personal information.  

The Reno Gazette Journal reports that plaintiffs used a 2020 social media post by Attorney General Aaron Ford to demonstrate that the law was too vague, and itself could be viewed as intimidation.  Ford’s post read in part, “FYI — voter intimidation is illegal in Nevada. Believe me when I say it: You do it, and you will be prosecuted.” 

The case, dismissed in federal circuit court for lack of evidence, is backed by wealthy election denier and plaintiff, Robert Beadles.  Depending on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, it could be challenged further the U.S. Supreme Court.    

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Gov. Joe Lombardo – (2023) Governor Joe Lombardo, Secretary of State Francisco V. Aguilar sign Election Worker Protection Bill into law
Nevada Legislature – Text & Docket of SB 406
States News – (2023) In face of threats, election workers vow: ‘You are not disrupting the democratic process’
U.S. Dept. of Justice – Man Charged for Threatening Nevada State Election Worker
Brennan Center for Justice – (2023) Poll of Election Officials Shows High Turnover Amid Safety Threats and Political Interference
Nevada Current – (2022) Threats of voter intimidation, extremist violence cloud midterms

American Democracy Minute – States Increased Security in Election Offices and Polling Places, and Increased Penalties for Threatening or Harassing Election Officials
U.S. District Court –  Decision in Challenge to SB 406
Reno Gazette Journal – 9th Circuit hears appeal over Nevada law to protect election workers from harassment

Groups Taking Action:

Issue One, Protect Democracy, Common Cause, Election Official Legal Defense Fund, Public Citizen

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers #Nevada 

The post Wait, What?  Nevada Law Protecting Election Workers Challenged in Federal Appeals Court appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

Election deniers, take notice.  Since just 2022, 20 states have tightened laws to protect election workers, upping penalties, expanding definitions of harassment, protecting personal information, and prohibiting “doxing.”  In other words, “Don’t mess with election workers.”

The 2020 post-election harassment of poll workers, egged on by reckless candidates and supporters, took state and federal officials by surprise.  In 2023, a change by the Department of Homeland Security required 3% of a $1 Billion dollar grant program to be devoted to better security for poll workers. Millions more in Help American Vote Act funding helped state, county and local officials to install bulletproof glass, panic buttons, more cameras and other on-site security.  

Federal law already makes it illegal to harass or intimidate election workers, as do state statutes.  But earlier this year, Virginia made attacks on election workers a hate crime, allowed civil lawsuits for threats and harassment, criminalized the hindering of election administration, gave a liability shield to those who act to protect election workers, and allowed election workers to keep their personal information private.  Oregon and nine other states made it illegal to “dox”, or release the address and personal information, of election officials.  

They’re sending the message, “Don’t mess with our poll workers.”

We have more on new protections for election workers at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

The 19th – (2023)  With an eye on 2024, some states consider new protections for election workers
Public Citizen – Tracker: State Legislation to Protect Election Officials
Brennan Center for Justice – Guide to Laws Against Intimidation of Voters and Election Workers
Brennan Center for Justice – Federal Homeland Security Grant Funds Directed to Election Security

General Assembly of Virginia – Virginia Voting Rights Act
Oregon House – House Bill 4144
Pew Research Center – Key facts about U.S. poll workers

Groups Taking Action:

Issue One, Protect Democracy, Common Cause, Election Official Legal Defense Fund, Public Citizen

Check Your Voter Registration:

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
• USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links
• Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
• Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
  

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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 #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers #ElectionSecurity

The post States Increased Security in Election Offices and Polling Places, and Increased Penalties for Threatening or Harassing Election Officials  appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

We’re examining ‘Deceive, Disrupt, Deny’, a new report which games out a likely election subversion plan by partisan extremists.  With an effort already underway to spread baseless claims of widespread noncitizen voting, extremists may again be motivated to confront voters and election workers.

Legal and physical protections for voters and election workers have been strengthened since 2020, as have consequences for harassment and intimidation.  But experts from election watchdog Protect Democracy think surveillance of ballot drop boxes, and voter and election worker intimidation by election denier groups may continue to be a factor. Voters can also expect to see more partisan poll watchers for in person voting, looking for opportunities to object to a voter’s eligibility, or obstruct election procedures.

Some of that obstruction may happen in the courts.  Protect Democracy reports that state parties and the Republican National Committee have over 100 pending lawsuits over election procedures, including challenges to mail-in voting, voter registration purges, and hand counting of ballots.

Almost all states are better prepared for the potential of threats, intimidation or violence, and most states have increased transparency to tamp down conspiracy theories.  But what happens when the candidate baselessly denies that he lost?   More on that part of the subversion plan in our next report. 

We’ve linked to Protect Democracy’s report, safeguards and remedies, at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Protect Democracy – Deceive, Disrupt, Deny:  2024 election subversion strategies and how to defuse them
Rolling Stone – Right-Wing News Site Recruits Election Deniers to Cover the 2024 Election
Associated Press – The RNC is launching a massive effort to monitor voting. Critics say it threatens to undermine trust
USA Today – Citizen advocates are training to disrupt 2024 elections in the name of election integrity
States United – Replacing the Refs
Brennan Center for Justice – What Georgia Tells Us About the 2024 Election Subversion Campaign

Groups Taking Action:
Protect Democracy, Campaign Legal Center, Brennan Center for Justice

Check Your Voter Registration:

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
• USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links
• Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
• Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
  
  

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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 #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers 

The post The ‘Deceive, Disrupt, Deny’ Subversion Plan: After Claims of Widespread Noncitizen Voting Comes Intimidation, Disruptive Poll Watchers & Baseless Lawsuits appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

A new report outlines the types of harassment and intimidation we might face in the 2024 elections, how to identify it, and legal remedies to address it.  It’s a report you should share with your local election officials.

The Brennan Center for Justice compiled a bewildering list of tactics being used by anti-democracy activists bent on intimidating election workers and suppressing voters.  It includes:  Blockading, following, menacing, or shouting at voters and volunteers; intimidation by poll watchers or rogue poll workers; intimidation by door-to-door canvassers, or via online messages or telephone; intimidation by law enforcement officers or by bringing guns to polling places; and harassing election workers online or in person.

The report helps election officials identify these tactics by giving recent examples of each, such as the armed vigilantes in Arizona staking out ballot drop boxes; poll watchers who interfered with election operations using mass challenges to suppress Black and Brown voters; and door-to-door canvassers intimidating New York vote-by-mail voters last summer.  

Some intimidation is harder to identify, such as when the wearing of a firearm in a polling place becomes intimidation, or how the placement of police officers in or around a polling place can cross a line into intimidation. 

We’ve linked to this important report for you to share with your local election officials from AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Brennan Center for Justice – Guide to Laws Against Intimidation of Voters and Election Workers

Issue One – The High Cost of Election Official Turnover
U.S. Election Assistance Commission –  Election Official Security

Groups Taking Action:
Protect Elections, Campaign Legal Center, ACLU,  Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

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 #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers #VoterIntimidation

The post What Voter Harassment & Intimidation Might We Face in 2024? A New Report Shows Election Officials What to Look For, and How to Combat It. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 26, 2024

Brian’s taking a few days of vacation. Please go to our podcast site to listen to today’s new broadcast.

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.

The U.S. Justice Department announced changes to its voting rights information and violation reporting page on April 17th, including a new guide on voting-related language assistance, and a video explaining protections against voter intimidation.

The page, Justice.gov/voting, includes voting rights guides on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and other voting laws, access for voters with disabilities, election monitoring, state voting rules for people with criminal convictions, the provisions of the National Voter Registration Act and Help America Vote Act and several other topics.

New in this update is an explainer on voter intimidation, including what constitutes threats, obstruction, or deliberately false information about the time, manner, or place of voting to prevent people from casting their ballots. A companion video explains how to report intimidation to the DOJ.

Another new section gives guidance on Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act on accommodations for non-English-speaking voters, referred to as “language minority citizens.” This group includes Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Alaskan Natives.

An existing guide concerning federal constraints on Post-Election “Audits” was also updated, as well as the DOJ’s guide to voting under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal rules.

Instructions and points of contact for reporting voting rights violations are also listed, along with the DOJ’s District Election Officers for each state.
We have a link to the page at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
U.S. Department of Justice – Justice Department Launches Updated Voting Rights and Elections Website
U.S. Department of Justice –  justice.gov/voting Voting and Elections Guidance Page
U.S. Department of Justice – New Video on Reporting Threats and Harassment

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #USJusticeDept #VoterProtection #FreedomtoVote #VoterSuppression

The post U.S. Justice Department Revamps Site for Voting Rights Information, Violation Reporting appeared first on American Democracy Minute.