Episode 32767: Open Democracy Minute for October 18, 2021: Finally, a US Senate Vote for the Freedom to Vote Act; Last NH Redistricting Hearings

Open Democracy Minute

You're listening to the Open Democracy Minute, keeping Granite State government by and for the people. It appears that the Freedom to Vote Act will get its first of a number of votes in the U.S. Senate later this week. The first move will be to allow debate on the Freedom to Vote Act, which allow the larger public to learn more about the bill’s protection of the voting rights, stopping efforts to make voting harder, protecting absentee voting, and making election day a national holiday. Unfortunately, debate on these popular issues will likely be blocked by Senate Republicans using the filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes to bypass. Blockage may finally stir conservative Democrats to make changes to the filibuster rules to allow democracy issues to be passed by a simple majority. This week is also the last week of in-county redistricting hearings, with hearings Monday night in Goffstown for Hillsborough County, and Tuesday night in Laconia for Belknap County. Advocates have been asking for an additional round of hearings when the legislature’s maps are completed, which the House Special Committee Chair has vowed not to allow. The Hillsborough County hearing will be held at Goffstown High School at 6 pm Monday, and Belknap County at the Belknap Mill in Laconia, also at 6 pm. More information on the hearings can be found at OpenDemocracyAction.org As Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we HAVE, it's something we DO.” For the Open Democracy Minute, I'm Brian Beihl.