The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 19, 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.

In official meeting rooms around the country, 538 electors for the 2024 Presidential election met December 17th to cast their vote on behalf of their state’s results.  Thirteen of those Electoral College electors are accused 2020 fake electors, some of whom still face prosecution. 

Trump campaign associates coordinated a plot in seven battleground states to submit a fraudulent slate of Republican electors.  The plot failed when Vice President Mike Pence refused to participate and certified the results. 

The alleged “fake electors” in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico, Georgia and Arizona were subject to investigations by state officials, the January 6th Committee, and the Special Counsel.  Fake electors in Michigan, Georgia, and Arizona still face trial. Nevada prosecutors just refiled charges Dec.12th.  No charges were brought in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 

Stunningly, 13 of those electors were renominated by their state Republican parties as electors in 2024.  Six of the 15 awaiting trial for forgery in Michigan were renominated. Six Nevada electors were re-indicted last week on forgery charges, two of whom were renominated, including Jesse Law and state GOP chair Michael McDonald.  

Still unclear is whether Trump will include the fake electors in his promised pardons for those accused and convicted for the January 6th insurrection.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (C.R.E.W) – The cases against fake electors and where they stand
LawFare – Where the Fake Electors Cases Stand in State Court
Michigan Public – “Vindication” as Trump’s “fake electors” serve as real ’24 electors
NPR – ‘Fake electors’ from 2020 are casting 2024 votes for Trump while facing felony charges

ABC News – 13 accused of being ‘fake electors’ cast Electoral College votes for Trump
Wisconsin Politics – Trump vows to eliminate Education Department, pardon Jan. 6 convicts during Mosinee rally
CNN – Recordings, emails show how Trump team flew fake elector ballots to DC in final push to overturn 2020 election
WSAZ – January 6th defendants, “fake electors” hope President-elect Trump keeps his word on pardons

Groups Taking Action:
C.R.E.W.,  LawForward

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #January6th #FakeElectors

The post Among 2024 Electoral College Presidential Electors Were 13 Alleged 2020 Fake Electors, Some of Whom Await Trial on Fraud Charges appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 28, 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.

The ink wasn’t yet dry on the Indian Citizens Act of 1924 when voter suppression of Native Americans began.  Natives have been fighting for their right to register and vote, proper representation, and fair voting districts ever since.

The Brennan Center for Justice writes that for decades, Arizona disenfranchised Native citizens because they were, QUOTE, “Persons under guardianship.”  New Mexico’s constitution stipulated that people who didn’t pay taxes, including Natives on reservations, could not vote.  

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited these suppression tactics.  But the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby decision opened a floodgate of new Native suppression in Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nevada and other states.

Recently, proof of citizenship and voter ID laws have targeted Natives, some of whom don’t have an ID, or live in remote areas without street numbers.  Counties have used “at-large” voting districts to dilute Native voting power, or removed drop boxes or polling places, forcing voters to drive sometimes more than a hundred miles to vote.  

What can be done?  The federal Native American Voting Rights Act is stuck in Congress, but New Mexico passed its own version in 2023.  The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restores protections stripped from the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act would expand voting access for ALL Americans.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Native American Rights Fund – (2020) Obstacles at Every Turn
Brennan Center for Justice – How Voter Suppression Laws Target Native Americans
NPR – Sometimes overlooked by campaigns, Native voters could decide major elections in 2024

Split Ticket – The Largest Native American Voting Blocs
Intermountain Histories – Trujillo v. Garley: The Struggle for Native American Voting Rights
The White House – (2022) REPORT OF THE INTERAGENCY STEERING GROUP ON NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren – Native American Voting Rights Act
U.S. Congress – John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Groups Taking Action:

Native American Rights Fund, Native Vote, National Congress of American Indians, Declaration for American Democracy

Check Your Voter Registration:

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

Please follow us on Facebook 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 #NativeVote #VoterSuppression #JohnLewisAct #FreedomtoVoteAct

The post Voter Suppression of Native Americans is on the Rise.  Three Pieces of Pending Legislation Could End It. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

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

The ink wasn’t yet dry on the Indian Citizens Act of 1924 when voter suppression of Native Americans began.  Natives have been fighting for their right to register and vote, proper representation, and fair voting districts ever since.

The Brennan Center for Justice writes that for decades, Arizona disenfranchised Native citizens because they were, QUOTE, “Persons under guardianship.”  New Mexico’s constitution stipulated that people who didn’t pay taxes, including Natives on reservations, could not vote.  

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited these suppression tactics.  But the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby decision opened a floodgate of new Native suppression in Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nevada and other states.

Recently, proof of citizenship and voter ID laws have targeted Natives, some of whom don’t have an ID, or live in remote areas without street numbers.  Counties have used “at-large” voting districts to dilute Native voting power, or removed drop boxes or polling places, forcing voters to drive sometimes more than a hundred miles to vote.  

What can be done?  The federal Native American Voting Rights Act is stuck in Congress, but New Mexico passed its own version in 2023.  The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restores protections stripped from the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act would expand voting access for ALL Americans.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Native American Rights Fund – (2020) Obstacles at Every Turn
Brennan Center for Justice – How Voter Suppression Laws Target Native Americans
NPR – Sometimes overlooked by campaigns, Native voters could decide major elections in 2024

Split Ticket – The Largest Native American Voting Blocs
Intermountain Histories – Trujillo v. Garley: The Struggle for Native American Voting Rights
The White House – (2022) REPORT OF THE INTERAGENCY STEERING GROUP ON NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren – Native American Voting Rights Act
U.S. Congress – John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

National Conference of State Legislatures – Recently Enacted Legislation Impacting Native American Voters

Groups Taking Action:

Native American Rights Fund, Native Vote, National Congress of American Indians, Declaration for American Democracy

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
  
  

Please follow us on Facebook 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 #NativeVote #VoterSuppression #JohnLewisAct #FreedomtoVoteAct

The post Suppression of Native American Voters is on the Rise.  Three Pieces of Pending Legislation Could Stop It. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 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.

The first Trump criminal trial is underway, but the 2020 fake electors still face months of investigation before any alleged conspirators are brought to trial.  Michigan, Georgia, and Nevada are the furthest along, having charged 25 participants.  Charges for Arizona’s fake electors are reportedly imminent.

At the urging of Trump campaign lawyers, GOP activists in New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, and Nevada allegedly signed an alternate slate of state electors to be submitted to the joint session of Congress.  

New Mexico and Pennsylvania AGs did not bring charges.  A civil suit in Wisconsin compelled 10 GOP fake electors to declare Joe Biden the winner. But WALB News reported April 11th that Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is being investigated as one of 16 fake electors there.   A Nevada grand jury charged six GOP activists last December, and a trial is scheduled for January 2025.   

Michigan charged its 16 fake electors last August and has preliminary hearings scheduled for 8 of 15 defendants in April.   Bridge Michigan reported that in a February preliminary hearing for six others, testimony suggested the participants had been told by a Trump campaign lawyer that the process was “appropriate” and could be considered by Congressional legislators.   

One of former President Donald Trump’s election lawyers, Kenneth Chesbro, has reportedly cooperated with each state’s investigators.

We have links to local reporting in each of the states  at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Georgia Recorder – UPDATED Trump’s fake electors: Here’s the full list
The Guardian – (2023) Trump fake elector scheme: where do seven states’ investigations stand?
WZZM Channel 13  – (2023) Michigan:  Hearings planned for early 2024 for 15 charged in fake elector scheme
Michigan Advance – D.C. witnesses testify about Michigan fake electors in court
Bridge Michigan – Michigan:  Michigan ‘fake electors’ head back in court: What to know
Associated Press – Wisconsin:  Takeaways from the Wisconsin 2020 fake electors lawsuit settlement
Associated Press – Nevada:  Nevada fake electors won’t stand trial until January 2025 under judge’s new schedule
WALB News – Georgia:  State prosecutor investigating Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for role as ‘fake’ elector
Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia – APPOINTMENT OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY PRO TEMPORE ASSIGNED IN THE MATTER OF BURT JONES
Politico – Arizona: Arizona investigators issue grand jury subpoenas as state’s 2020 Trump election probe accelerates

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FakeElectors #Georgia #Michigan #Nevada #Arizona #Wisconsin #Pennsylvania #New Mexico

The post 2020 Fake Elector Scheme Investigations Grind On in Michigan, Nevada and Georgia, and Arizona  appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 22, 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 Gallup poll released this month found 43% of Americans identify as unaffiliated, independent voters. But in some states, they can’t vote in primaries. As voting begins Jan. 23rd in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary, what states are considering closing – or opening – primaries in 2024?

Closed primaries allow only those registered with a party to vote in that party’s primary.  Open primaries allow any voter to take either party’s ballot.  Semi-open primaries allow unaffiliated voters to take one or the other, while registered Democrats or Republicans can only vote in their primary.  

New Hampshire’s Presidential primary is the same as it has been for the last few decades, allowing unaffiliated voters – the state’s largest block of voters – to vote. But the NH GOP is considering closing its future primaries, joining legislators in Louisiana and Ohio.  Wyoming closed its primaries last year, joining Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Pennsylvania.  In Wyoming and New Hampshire, attempts to close the primary have been driven by “crossover” voting, where voters became independent to influence the outcome of another party’s primary.

With the ranks of unaffiliated voters growing, ballot initiatives for a fully open primary are under consideration in Nevada, Oregon, Arizona and Idaho.  Pennsylvania has open primary bills pending. 

We have information about your state’s primary system, and the groups taking action at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

National Conference of State Legislatures – State Primary Election Types
Gallup – Independent Party ID Tied for High; Democratic ID at New Low
Forbes – Voters Who Identify As Independents Skyrocket—As Democrats And Republicans Dwindle
American Democracy Minute – Fears of Crossover Voting Driving Party Activists to Close Primaries – But at the Expense of Silencing Independent Voters
CBS News –  “Crossover voting” in primaries in Wyoming is about to become more difficult

NBC News – 6 states are rethinking how they run their primaries in 2024
Louisiana Illuminator – (Opinion) Partisan primaries would be a move backward for Louisiana
Public News Service – Bills would open PA primaries to unaffiliated voters
U.S. Vote Foundation – Primary Election Dates and Rules in Your State

Groups Taking Action:
Open Primaries, FairVote, Represent.Us, Unite America,  Yes on 3 Nevada , Open Primaries Arizona, Idahoans for Open Primaries, Ballot PA

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?  

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #OpenPrimaries #LetIndependentsVote #IndependentVoters

The post On the Eve of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Some States Contemplate Closing their Primaries to Independents, While Others Consider Opening Them in 2024 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.