The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for June 3, 2025

CO Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Threats Against Top CO and AZ Election Officials, Judges and Law Enforcement
We recently reported on county supervisors in Shasta County, CA still clinging to debunked 2020 election fraud claims by President Trump and his allies.  May 29th, a Colorado man was sentenced to three years in prison for threats he made to top Colorado and Arizona election officials, fueled by those same claims. 

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Department of Justice - (2024) Cortez Man Pleads Guilty To Making Threats Against Election Official
Colorado Public Radio - Colorado man who threatened election officials asked for leniency in sentencing, got 3 years 
Brennan Center for Justice - Poll of Election Officials Finds Concerns About Safety, Political Interference
Princeton University Bridging Divides Initiative - Threat and Harassment Incidents Targeting Local Officials Surge During 2024 Election
Federal Register - Executive Order:  Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government
NBC News - Justice Department office that prosecutes public corruption slashed in size, sources say  

Groups Taking Action:

Protect Democracy, Issue One, Center for American Progress

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers 

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for June 2, 2025

Five Years After the 2020 Election, More Election Denier Turmoil in Shasta County, CA
Almost five years after the election, impacts of debunked 2020 election fraud claims by President Donald Trump and his allies still reverberate.  We’re back in Shasta County, California, where once again, supervisors have stoked an election-denier dumpster fire. 

Some podcasting platforms strip out our links.  To read our resources and see the whole script of today’s report, please go to our website at https://AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute - (2023) Shasta County Almost Hand-Counted Its Ballots in November. Instead, it Lost an Expensive Game of Election Denial Chicken with the State of California
American Democracy Minute - (2024) Five States Are Considering Conspiracy-Fueled Legislation Which Bans Ballot Tabulators.  But Fed-Up Voters are Pushing Back.
Shasta County Scout - After Four Days in his Appointed Role As Registrar of Voters, Clint Curtis Announces Campaign During Private “Town Hall”
Shasta County Scout - New Shasta County Election Official Terminates Top Staffer
SF Gate - 'Calm anger': After 17 years, Shasta elections official suddenly fired 

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause California,  League of Women Voters Redding

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ShastaCounty #ElectionDeniers #ProtectElections #ElectionWorkers

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for May 30, 2025

With His Corruption Charges Dropped by the Trump DOJ, NYC Mayor Eric Adams Sues NY Campaign Finance Board for Denying Matching Funds
New York City Mayor Eric Adams had his bribery and corruption charges dropped by the U.S. Department of Justice under questionable circumstances in April. Because of those charges, the New York State Campaign Finance Board denied Adams matching campaign funds.  Adams is now suing to get those funds.

Some podcasting platforms strip out our links.  To read our resources and see the whole script of today’s report, please go to our website at https://AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Department of Justice – New York City Mayor Eric Adams Charged With Bribery And Campaign Finance Offenses
Brennan Center for Justice – New York City Campaign Finance Board Denies Mayor Eric Adams Public Matching Funds; Brennan Center Reacts 
American Democracy Minute - Trump Fires Office of Government Ethics Chief Monday; Hours Later, DOJ Drops Campaign Corruption Charges Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams
Politico - Eric Adams sues Campaign Finance Board for denying him millions in matching funds

Groups Taking Action:

Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause NY, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #EricAdams #NewYork #PoliticalCorruption #NYC

American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for May 29, 2025

Federal Appeals Court Weighs Whether the Georgia Legislature-Drawn Majority-Minority Districts in Metro Atlanta Met Judge’s Order
In a recent report from Georgia, we told you about voters contesting a mass voter eligibility challenge by election conspiracy group True the Vote.   In another 11th Circuit courtroom that same week, a group of Black voters challenged the voting districts for metro Atlanta. 

Some podcasting platforms strip out our links.  To read our resources and see the whole script of today’s report, please go to our website at https://AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Georgia Recorder - (2021)  State lawmakers ready to wrap congressional redistricting with a GOP bow
Brennan Center for Justice - District Maps Show How Georgians of Color Are Underrepresented in Local Government
American Redistrict Project - Georgia State Conf. of the NAACP v. Georgia
Georgia NAACP - (2023) Georgia NAACP calls for rejection of newly approved legislative maps in federal court.
Georgia Recorder - Long simmering dispute over Georgia political maps drawn after 2020 Census returns to federal court
Courthouse News Service - Battle over Black voter suppression in Georgia returns to federal court

Groups Taking Action:

ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY,  NAACP Georgia, Brennan Center for Justice

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Georgia #RacialGerrymandering #FairMaps #MajorityMinority #Atlanta

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for May 28, 2025

2020 Mass Challenges of 364,000 Georgia Voters Under Scrutiny by Federal Appeals Court
Georgia law allows unlimited challenges by voters to the eligibility of other citizens registering or voting. Before a hotly-contested U.S. Senate runoff elections in 2021, an activist group challenged over 364,000 voters.  The case is now before an appeals court. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Legal Defense Fund - LDF’s Lawsuit Challenging Georgia’s Voter Suppression Law
Brennan Center for Justice - New Georgia Law Spurs Bogus Challenges to Voter Eligibility
U.S. District Court via Democracy Docket - 2020 Complaint by Fair Fight Action
NBC News - Conservative activists find errors in software they hoped would root out voter fraud
Georgia Recorder - Federal court might revive Georgia lawsuit claiming mass challenges violate Voting Rights Act
Court House News - 11th Circuit looks for voter intimidation in 2020 election challenges by conservatives

Groups Taking Action:

Fair Fight Action, Legal Defense Fund, ACLU GA

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Georgia #VoterSuppression #SB202 #VoterChallenges

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for May 27, 2025

Courts Use the ‘Gingles Test’ to Determine Whether Redistricting Violates the Voting Rights Act
Federal courts often use the “Gingles Test” when determining whether a gerrymandered redistricting map is a violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. How that test is interpreted can determine whether minority voters can elect the candidate of their choice, or their vote is diluted by an anti-voter state legislature.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
BallotPedia - Thornburg v. Gingles
Charis Franklin, Fordham University Law - From Poll Tests To The Purcell Doctrine:  Merrill V. Milligan And The Precarious Preservation Of Voting Rights
The American Redistricting Project - Thornburg v. Gingles (1986)
Brennan Center for Justice - Breaking Down the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Decision Out of Alabama
Louisiana Illuminator – Federal court tosses Landry-backed Louisiana congressional map

Groups Taking Action:
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Campaign Legal Center, ACLU, Native American Rights Fund

Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RacialGerrymandering #VotingRightsAct #VRA

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for May 26, 2025

Campaign Finance Reformer Doris "Granny D" Haddock's Words on Memorial Day
As the egregious violations of the emoluments clause add up, with unknown millions in dark money contributed during the transition, another $240 million in inaugural donations, and now peddling meme coins and receiving a Boeing 747, I wonder what Granny D would have said.  My guess?  She'd be circling the U.S. Capitol again.

For Memorial Day, here's an abridged portion of a speech at the U.S. Capitol by legendary campaign finance reformer Doris “Granny D” Haddock, the 90-year-old grandmother who walked across the U.S. to bring attention to campaign finance corruption.

Some podcasting platforms strip out our links.  To read our resources and see the whole script of today’s report, please go to our website at https://AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Open Democracy – Granny D Speech at the US Capitol Feb 29 2000
GrannyD.org –  Videos, Quotes and Speeches from Doris “Granny D” Haddock
Trailer to “Granny D Goes to Washington”
Open Democracy – “The Politics of Joy (and Sacrifice):  The Fearless Walks and Historic Talks of Doris “Granny D” Haddock”

Groups Taking Action:

Open Democracy Action, Public Citizen, Common Cause, American Promise, Represent.Us

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #GrannyD #CampaignFinance #BigMoneyCorruption

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for May 23, 2025

Michigan GOP’s ‘Independent State Legislature Theory’ Case Rebuffed by U.S. Supreme Court
The “Independent State Legislature Theory” met a skeptical U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 in Moore v. Harper, a North Carolina gerrymandering case. The Michigan GOP tried to employ the fringe theory to undo Michigan’s Question 2 citizen initiative, but the U.S. Supreme Court refused the case May 19th.

Some podcasting platforms strip out our links.  To read our resources and see the whole script of today’s report, please go to our website at https://AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Brennan Center for Justice - Moore v. Harper, Explained
American Democracy Minute - SCOTUS Hears Arguments on Dismissing Moore v. Harper; Democracy Advocates Divided
American Democracy Minute - (2022) Citizen Initiative Protecting Voting Rights Passes in Michigan
Michigan Advance - GOP lawmakers petition U.S. Supreme Court to hear case against Michigan election laws
Campaign Legal Center - (2022)  What Voters Need to Know About the Independent State Legislature Theory
Bridge Michigan via Votebeat - US Supreme Court rejects Michigan GOP bid to overturn new voting rules

Groups Taking Action:

Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans,  Detroit Downriver A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Detroit Disability Power

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 22, 2025

NH Senate Kills Bill Requiring Proof of Citizenship with Absentee Ballot; Challenge to 2024 NH Proof of Citizenship Law Heard in Federal Court
The New Hampshire Senate killed a bill requiring absentee voters to include copies of citizenship documents when requesting and returning absentee ballots.   In a separate court case in April, voters challenged the state’s proof of citizenship law for in-person registration.

Some podcasting platforms strip out our links.  To read our resources and see the whole script of today’s report, please go to our website at https://AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

NH Secretary of State - REGISTERING TO VOTE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
NHPR - Federal judge hears arguments over NH's proof of citizenship voting law
Associated Press - New Hampshire town elections offer a preview of citizenship voting rules being considered nationwide
NH Legislature via LegiScan - Text of HB 217, killed by the NH Senate
New Hampshire Bulletin - Senate advances anti-sanctuary city bills, but stops short on other House priorities

Groups Taking Action:

Coalition for Open Democracy, League of Women Voters NH, ACLU NH

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 21, 2025

Indiana Bans Student IDs as Voter ID; Challenger File Suit Contending Law is a ‘Surgical Strike on Young Voters’
Since 2005, the State of Indiana allowed voting-eligible students to use their student IDs to vote.  April 16th, Governor Mike Braun signed SB 10, which included banning use of student photo IDs for voting without evidence of misuse.  That law is headed to court.

Some podcasting platforms strip out our links.  To read our resources and see the whole script of today’s report, please go to our website at https://AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Indianapolis Capital Star - Indiana elections chief defends voting ban on ‘unsecured’ student IDs after legal challenge
Indiana General Assembly - SB 10 
The Indiana Citizen - ELECTION SECURITY OR DISENFRANCHISEMENT? 
Indiana Senate Republicans - Doriot: Bill to strengthen Indiana's elections passes committee
Indianapolis Star - 'Attack on young voters': Indiana faces lawsuit over new law banning student IDs for voting  

Groups Taking Action:

Count Us IN, Women4Change Indiana, Campus Vote Project

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Indiana #StudentID #VoterSupression #SB10