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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#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 Sept. 20, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

Shortly after taking office, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen directed state election officials to invalidate voter registrations of immigrants who had been issued a Permanent Resident, or “green” card by the U.S. Government.  In his zeal to root out noncitizens, he apparently invalidated eligible U.S. naturalized citizens as well. 

Despite no evidence of widespread illegal voting by noncitizens in Alabama, Allen directed the removal of residents who had a federal “noncitizens identification number” from the state’s voter rolls. The state purged 3,251 people in August, after which Allen said in a statement, “I have been clear that I will not tolerate the participation of noncitizens in our elections.”   

The Alabama Reflector reports that a lawsuit was filed Sept. 13th by democracy groups and four naturalized citizens who had at one time held a green card and noncitizen identification number, and were swept up in Allen’s, QUOTE, “Purge Program.” 

The complaint alleges that it violates the First and Fourteenth amendments, the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act, and asks the court to strike down the program.  It also alleges that the announcement and notification of voters violated the VRA’s prohibition of  “attempting to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote.”  No hearing has been scheduled.

We’ve linked the complaint and the groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. District Court, Northern District via Democracy Docket – Complaint
Associated Press – Lawsuit says Alabama voter purge targets naturalized citizens
NPR – The GOP is making false claims about noncitizens voting. It’s affecting real voters

Brennan Center for Justice – Noncitizen Voting Isn’t Affecting State or Federal Elections — Here’s Why
Alabama Political Reporter – Undocumented woman charged for voting fraud, but research shows noncitizen voting is rare and overstated

Groups Taking Action:
Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, League of Women Voters AL,  Alabama State Conference of the NAACP

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 #AlabamaNews #VoterSuppression #NewCitizens

The post Alabama SOS Sweeps Up Naturalized Citizens In Move to Root Out Supposed Noncitizen Voters, Spurs Lawsuit 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

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#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

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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 #USJusticeDept #VoterProtection #FreedomtoVote #VoterSuppression

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

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 23, 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 in Arizona today, where a new and normally mundane Election Procedure Manual for election officials has attracted not one, not two, but three GOP lawsuits. 

Arizona’s Secretary of State issued the updated manual in January, after review by the state’s governor and attorney general, and a 15-day public comment period.   

January 31st, House and Senate GOP leaders challenged six new provisions, one of which tells counties they must certify elections by the statewide deadline, or risk county results not being counted by the state.  In 2022, conspiracy theory-driven Cochise County commissioners tried to block certification.  

Another suit by the national and state Republican committees argues that the 15-day public comment period should have been 30 days, and takes issue with seven provisions, including allowing early voting mail ballots to be sent out of state, and allowing federal-only voters with no citizenship papers to vote in Presidential elections.  The Arizona GOP has used proof of citizenship as a voter suppression tactic aimed at Native American voters, some of whom do not have birth certificates. 

A suit filed February 13th by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club contends new rules protecting voters from threats and intimidation violate the free speech rights of poll watchers.  The rules come after masked and armed vigilantes were stationed at ballot drop boxes in 2022.

We have more details on the suits linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – Arizona Republicans Challenge Elections Procedure Manual
Arizona Mirror/Votebeat – Arizona Republicans sue Adrian Fontes over election manual, claiming disenfranchisement
National Republican Committee/Arizona GOP – Arizona Superior Court Claim
Arizona Mirror – GOP sues Fontes over Election Procedures Manual 

Associated Press – Group challenges restrictions in Arizona election manual on ballot drop-off locations

Groups Taking Action:
Native American Rights Fund,  League of Women Voters Arizona, Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, Voto Latino  

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 #ElectionDeniers #ProtectPollWorkers #VoterSuppression #NativeVote

The post Not One, Not Two, But Three Lawsuits Contesting Arizona’s New Election Procedure Manual for Election Officials appeared first on American Democracy Minute.