American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 23, 2026

Think Your Mail-in Ballot Gets Automatically Postmarked on the Day You Drop it Off? Think Again.
Most Americans assume that postal mail is postmarked the day it is received. But in August 2025, the U.S. Postal Service clarified its rules for “Postmarks and Postal Possession.” While the post office says it hasn’t changed its policy, its new definition has ramifications for your mailed financial and tax documents, and importantly, your absentee or mail-in ballot.

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Postal Service - Federal Register Notice of Additional Postmarking Information
National Conference of State Legislatures - How the New USPS Postmark Changes Could Affect Mail Voting
PBS News Hour - How this new mail rule could affect your ballot, your tax return and more
National Society of Tax Professionals - USPS Announces Changes to the Postmark Date System
Save the Post Office - Implementation Update on the USPS Processing Network
Votebeat Texas - Postal Service changes mean Texas voters shouldn’t wait to mail voter registrations and ballots
U.S. Postal Service - Postmarking Myths and Facts
American Postal Workers Union -

Groups Taking Action:

National Vote at Home Institute, Save the Post Office, American Postal Workers Union

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #USPS #VotefromHome #PostmarkRules #MailBallots #PostalDelays

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 22, 2026

DOJ Filing Suggests a DOGE Employee May Have Created External Social Security Data Files and Had Contact with Election Denier Group
New lawsuit filings allege a member of Elon Musk’s DOGE team may have created an external file containing personal Social Security information. That month, that employee and another were allegedly contacted by a “political advocacy group” attempting to find evidence of voter fraud.

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

AFL-CIO - (2025) AFL-CIO, Affiliate Unions, Economic Policy Institute File Emergency Lawsuit Against DOGE to Protect Privacy of Worker Data
U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (via Court Listener) - (2025) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO v. Social Security Administration
U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (via Court Listener) - American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO v. Social Security Administration NOTICE OF CORRECTIONS TO THE RECORD
FedScoop - DOGE likely violated order on Social Security data, court filing shows

Groups Taking Action:

AFL-CIO, Economic Policy Institute, SEIU

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #SocialSecurityData #DOGE #ElonMusk #PrivacyAct #DonaldTrump #SocialSecurity #ElectionDeniers

American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 21, 2026

Redistricting Updates: CA GOP Appeals Prop 50 Maps to SCOTUS, VA Dems Push Constitutional Amendment, NH’s Bill Doomed, MD Stalemated

We have mid-decade congressional redistricting updates today from California, Virginia, New Hampshire and Maryland. The GOP appealed California’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

National Conference of State Legislatures - Changing the Maps: Tracking Mid-Decade Redistricting
U.S. DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (via Election Law Blog) - PLAINTIFFS’ EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN INJUNCTION PENDING APPEAL
Virginia Mercury - Virginia Senate Democrats advance mid-decade redistricting amendment
AFT NH - HB 1300 was originally slated to be a mid-decade congressional redistricting bill but . . .
Associated Press - Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore pushes the case for redrawing the state’s congressional map

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause US, League of Women Voters US, Bipartisan Policy Center

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #Redistricting #Gerrymandering #MidDecadeRedistricting #TrumpGerrymandering #CongressionalDistricts #FairMaps

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for January 20, 2026

Federal Circuit Courts Block Trump DOJ from Obtaining California and Oregon Voter Data
We have an update on the Trump Department of Justice efforts to force states to turn over voter and personal information for inclusion in its SAVE database. Federal district judges in California and Oregon blocked DOJ’s actions, finding neither federal nor state law compelled the states to do so.

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute - (Sept. 2025) Justice Department Sues Maine & Oregon for Withholding State Voter Registration and Voting Data from Trump Administration
Oregon Capital Chronicle - Trump Justice Department sues Oregon, Maine for not turning over voter data
U.S. District Court for Central California (via Court Listener) - United States v. Shirley Weber
NPR - A federal judge dismisses the DOJ's effort to get voter data from California
Courthouse News Service - Judge rules Oregon won't need to hand over unredacted voter rolls to Trump admin
Brennan Center for Justice - Tracker of Justice Department Requests for Voter Information
Oregon Attorney General - AG Rayfield Releases Statement Following Voter Data Court Hearing

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause, ACLU, League of Women Voters CA, Our Oregon

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #California #Oregon #TrumpDOJ #VoterData

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 19, 2026

With SCOTUS Appearing Ready to Strike Down More of the Voting Rights Act in 2026, MLK’s 1957 ‘Give Us the Ballot’ Speech is Still Relevant

Years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke on the Brown vs. Board of Education decision during the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial, May 17th, 1957. As the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to strike down more of the VRA in 2026, his words are still relevant today.

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change - Audio of Dr. King delivering "Give Us the Ballot" on May 17, 1957 at the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University - Transcription of the "Give Us the Ballot" Address
Brennan Center for Justice - Voter Suppression
The Fulcrum - Trump Targets Voting Rights and Suppresses Voting
NAACP Legal Defense Fund - Louisiana v. Callais

Groups Taking Action:

Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, Campaign Legal Center

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #MLKDay #DrMartinLutherKingJr #GiveUstheBallot #VotingRightsAct #BrownvBoardofEducation

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 16, 2026

Federal Panel Allows California’s Gerrymandered Counterpunch to Five More GOP Congressional Seats in Texas. Will a Politicized SCOTUS Block It?
January 14th, a 9th Circuit federal court panel rejected a GOP claim that California’s new congressional districts were racially gerrymandered. The court said the Proposition 50 maps, created as a counterpunch to gerrymandering in Texas, were manipulated for partisan, not racial reason.

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute - (Dec. 2025) U.S. Supreme Court Majority Embraces Texas Redistricting, Ignores District Court Panel Racial Gerrymandering Findings
CalMatters - Proposition 50 passed in California. Here’s what you missed
U.S. DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (Via Democracy Docket) - Order in DAVID TANGIPA, et al., Plaintiffs, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. GAVIN NEWSOM, in his official capacity
as the Governor of California, et al.,

American Democracy Minute - (Nov. 2025) The Purcell Principle, Often Used in the SCOTUS Shadow Docket, Will Be Argued in the Texas Gerrymandering Decision. What is it?

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause, FairVote, League of Women Voters

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #California #Texas #TrumpGerrymandering #RacialGerrymandering #PartisanGerrymandering #FairMaps #Proposition50

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 15, 2026

New Hampshire Legislators Make Yet Another Attempt at Keeping Students from Voting, Further Tightening Voter ID Regulations
New Hampshire legislators are making another attempt to end the use of student IDs as voter identification, claiming such IDs were prone to fraud and advancing a bill to further narrow acceptable options. Such fraud is almost non-existent, and pro-voter groups say it’s partisan voter suppression.

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 - (2025) Voter Suppression Bills Aimed at College Students Pushed (Again) by the NH Legislature
New Hampshire Bulletin - Citing security, Republicans push to exclude student ID cards from voting verification
NH Legislature - Text of House Bill 323
NH Legislature - Text of CACR 4
NH Municipal Association - (2018) Voter Registration Law Changes: Senate Bill 3
New Hampshire Bulletion - (2021) In blow to state’s Republicans, Supreme Court strikes down voter registration law
Democratic Erosion Consortium - The Dangers of Disenfranchising College Students in New Hampshire

Groups Taking Action:

Open Democracy Action, League of Women Voters NH, NH Youth Movement

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #NewHampshire #NHPolitics #VoterSuppression #YouthVoters
#StudentVoters

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 14, 2026

Voters Identifying as ‘Independent’ Reaches Record High Led by Younger Americans, Says New Gallup Poll
The number of Americans identifying as independents reached a new high, at the expense of both major parties. An updated Gallup tracking poll found 45% of respondents called themselves political independents, led by younger Americans.

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Gallup - New High of 45% in U.S. Identify as Political Independents
Gallup - (2024 -Previous poll results) Independent Party ID Tied for High; Democratic ID at New Low
Pew Research - Party Affiliation Fact Sheet (NPORS)
ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy - (2017) Gamechangers? Independent Voters May Rewrite the Political Playbook
Unite America - Research Brief: Significant Share of Young Voters Are Independents

Groups Taking Action:

Independent Center, Independent Voter Project, Unite America

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #IndependentVoters #GallupPoll #Polling #2026Midterms