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 Jan. 31, 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.

While we wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on former President Trump’s appeal to the Colorado 14th amendment ballot eligibility decision, we have updates on other recent state cases. 

In Massachusetts on Jan. 29th, the state’s ballot law commission ruled against two challenges, saying that the body did not have jurisdiction.  In Maine, a court kept Trump on the ballot after the Secretary of State’s decision to remove him, pending the U.S. Supreme Court appeal in February. 

An Illinois Board of Elections’ hearing officer said Tuesday that the Board of Elections can only rule on Illinois election code matters, not the U.S. Constitution, and recommended dismissing the case.  But Capital News Illinois reports that the judge also said that if the board chose not to dismiss, QUOTE “President Trump engaged in insurrection, within the meaning of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and should have his name removed from the March, 2024 primary ballot in Illinois.” 

States having already dismissed challenges include Washington, California, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon and New Hampshire, some which could be reconsidered based on the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Ten more minor cases remain pending. Several others have been withdrawn by the plaintiffs, according to Lawfare. 

We have links to more information on these challenges at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – Court Challenges to Trump’s Ballot Eligibility are Pending in 17 States.   Losses in Colorado & Michigan are Being Appealed.
PBS Newshour – Supreme Court to hear Trump ballot case that could upend 2024 presidential election
The Hill – Trump candidacy challenge dismissed in Massachusetts
The Hill – Maine judge defers decision on Trump 14th Amendment question until Supreme Court rules
CNN – Illinois election board hears objection to Trump candidacy based on January 6 insurrection

Capital News Illinois – State election board to rule on challenge to Trump candidacy
Lawfare – Tracking Trump Section 3 Challenges
CNN – Tracking the major 14th Amendment efforts to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot

Groups Taking Action:
Free Speech for People, Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW)

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #14thAmendment #BallotDisqualification #Insurrectionists

The post The U.S. Supreme Court hears the Appeal of Donald Trump’s Eligibility in February, But Where Do the Many State Cases Stand? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 1, 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.

A trial opened Monday in a Denver, Colorado courtroom to determine whether former President Donald Trump should be excluded from the 2024 Colorado ballot.  Similar cases are pending in Minnesota and Michigan.

The basis for all the cases is the 14th Amendment’s Section 3 prohibition of any federal or state office holder who has taken an oath to protect the U.S. Constitution from engaging in “insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S., or giving aid or comfort to its enemies.

The Insurrection Act has been used only a handful of times in American history, primarily to keep former Confederate leaders from holding elected office after the Civil War.  

With the legal help of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, six Colorado Republican and unaffiliated voters sued, alleging that Trump  engaged in an insurrection by inciting a violent mob on January 6th, 2021 in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election.  The former President’s lawyers argue that he did NOT engage in insurrection or rebellion, and framed the suit as “election interference” to stop his current candidacy.  

Legal scholars suggest the lack of precedence, and a resulting debate over whether a President is even subject to the clause, will make it a difficult case to win.

We have the full text of the insurrection act, and articles on the pending cases at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
The Atlantic – The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President AgainNPR – 5 things to know about the 14th Amendment effort to block Trump from the presidencyColorado Newsline – Trump 14th Amendment trial in Colorado opens with focus on events of Jan. 6
Associated Press – Lawyers argue whether the Constitution’s ‘insurrection’ clause blocks Trump from the 2024 ballot
Reuters – Trump should be disqualified from 2024 ballot over Jan. 6 riot, advocates say at trial
Michigan Advance – Michigan judge fast-tracks lawsuit to force Trump off the ballot in Michigan
Minnesota Public Radio – Minnesota lawsuit seeks to keep Trump off 2024 ballot
Derek Muller, Election Law Blog –   Colorado trial court botches interpretation of Electoral Count Reform Act in rush to get Trump ballot access case to hearing

Groups Taking Action:
C.R.E.W., Free Speech for People, Mi Familia Vota

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #14thAmendment #InsurrectionAct #January6th  #ColoradoPolitics #StoptheSteal

The post Colorado, Minnesota & Michigan Courts Consider “Insurrection Act” Cases Attempting to Keep Trump Off the Ballot appeared first on American Democracy Minute.