The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 10, 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 the face of a reproductive rights ballot question later this year, Missouri’s legislature is the latest to try to game the system, making the passage of ballot initiatives harder, and taking power away from the voters.  

In August 2023, Ohio voters slapped down an attempt to raise the threshold to pass a ballot question from a 50%+1 majority, to 60%.  A reproductive rights question later passed in November with a 57% majority.

To defeat the Missouri Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment, the Republican majority is using another tactic. Instead of raising the threshold percentage like Ohio, the SJR 74 constitutional amendment proposes changing the simple majority to a simple majority plus a majority in at least five of the state’s eight Congressional districts.  It passed the state senate in February, and will likely pass the state house this week.

Called a “consensus majority,” it would shift power to the state’s least populated and most conservative counties.   The Missouri Independent estimates a ballot question could be defeated with just 23% of the state’s voters voting against it.  If passed in the legislature, it’s expected to be added to the lower-turnout August 6th state primary ballot.  If passed by voters, it would be likely implemented prior to the November 5th general election.  

We have the language of the bill and more linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
BallotPedia –  Ohio 2023 ballot measures
BallotPedia – Missouri Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment (2024)
Missouri Legislature – Text of SJR 74, Amended Version
Missouri Independent – Missouri Senate passes bill making it harder for voters to amend the constitution
Missouri Independent – As few as 1 in 5 voters could defeat initiative petitions under Missouri Senate proposal
Columbia Missourian – Initiative petition changes clear hurdle
BalltPedia – History of Initiative & Referendum in Missouri

Groups Taking Action:

League of Women Voters MO,  Missouri Voters for the Environment,  Missouri Conference of the NAACP, Empower Missouri,  PROMO

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The post Trying to Game the System, Missouri Legislature Proposes Ballot Question Rule Changes to Head Off Reproductive Rights Question in November appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 16, 2023

Since this broadcast, the Ohio legislature has passed a state constitutional amendment and a bill re-establishing an August date for a special election in hopes of pushing through its 60% margin for approval of a citizen ballot initiative. Brian Beihl will return with new episodes on Wednesday.

The post Rebroadcast from March 10, 2023: State Legislatures Attempting to Limit Voter Power by Making Citizen Ballot Initiatives Harder to Win appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute radio report & podcast for October 21, 2022

Listen!

Today’s Links

Articles:
NPR – Hand-counting ballots may sound nice. It’s actually less accurate and more expensive

Associated Press – Some in GOP want ballots to be counted by hand, not machines
Nevada Independent – How should Nevada hand count ballots? Nye County, state election officials disagree
MIT Election Data & Science Lab – Voting technology
MIT Election Data & Science Lab – Learning From Recounts
Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project –  Using Recounts to Verify the Accuracy of Vote Tabulations

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

Few election officials would ever recommend counting ballots by hand unless it’s absolutely necessary.   It’s long, tedious & expensive  work which is prone to error.   Yet that’s exactly what’s being promoted by 2020 election deniers around the country.

Over the last year, several state legislatures have considered hand-count bills, including New Hampshire, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Washington and West Virginia, fueled by conspiracy theories that optical ballot readers have been hacked.

In July,  a long-time Nye County, Arizona election official resigned along with her staff, citing false allegations of fraud based on these conspiracy theories.  Then in August, the county commission decided to hand count the ballots from the county’s 32,000 registered voters.  

Election experts point to multiple studies by the MIT Election Data & Science Lab and other researchers, showing where optical reader results were compared to hand recounting.  The difference is so tiny, it doesn’t justify the time and expense of hand counting, which can take hours or even days longer, and adds substantial additional expense.  A Wisconsin hand recount in the 2016 Presidential race found error rates for Donald Trump at 0.159% and Hillary Clinton at 0.161%, which had no impact on the outcome and an expense of over $3 Million dollars.  

The interim Nye County clerk, Mark Kampf, is proposing a parallel process, which will use tabulators and hand counting.  The State of Nevada, meanwhile, just proposed forms and standards for hand counting.   

Articles and election technology studies are linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org  

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl

The post Hand Counting Ballots Takes Longer, is Less Accurate, and Costs More. So Why is It Being Proposed Around the Country? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.