In the last election here in Montana, the Republicans made pretty much a clean sweep. They won the governorship, the race for our one Congressional representative, the one US Senate seat that was up for re-election, and most statewide offices. Trump won in Montana by 16 percentage points – 56.9% to 40.5%. And, yet, the Montana legislature saw fit to pass several laws affecting voting in Montana during their most recent session earlier this year.
These news laws do away with same day voter registration and enact new voter ID requirements. Voters must now register by noon the day before the election. Keep in mind, the Montana electorate voted to enact same day registration in 2004 and the Republican legislature, by enacting this law, just thumbed their collective noses at the Montana voting public. In addition, when voters now go to the polls, they must have either a government issued ID or (I love this) a Montana concealed carry permit! Otherwise, they are required to show two forms of identification.
There has been no wide spread fraud in Montana elections and, as I stated, the Republicans ran the slate in the last election. Montana is certifiably ‘red’. One might wonder, why these laws were necessary. It turns out, that this is part of a larger nation-wide scheme to ensure that Montana and other states stay ‘red’, Republican-controlled states for the foreseeable future.
The current state legislative session has ended, but there are now a group of Republican state legislatures who are “urging their leadership in the state House and Senate to appoint a special committee to investigate the security of the state’s election system, an effort spearheaded by Republican legislators who are pushing theories of widespread voting fraud.”1 Just to emphasize, there has been zero evidence of widespread voter fraud in Montana (or anywhere else for that matter) and, oh by the way, the Republicans swept the table by wide margins in the last election cycle.
The letter requesting this committee, which was signed by a majority of Republican state legislators, stated, “Many of our constituents have reached out to us with questions about Montana election security…”. I would like to know just how many constituents have asked that question. My guess is that is a very small fraction of the Montana electorate. The letter goes on to say, “the Select Committee would conduct hearings about the process and security of Montana elections and propose future changes if needed; including legislation.”
That last line is the kicker – “propose future changes if needed; including legislation.” Given that this is being pushed by Republicans, it is a one hundred percent probability that any future changes or legislation will be aimed at tightening their grip on control of Montana. It will be done under the guise of ‘election security’ but the purpose will be to essentially rig the election process so it will be almost impossible for a Democratic candidate to win any office of consequence in Montana in the future.
Given what has transpired in some other states, I fully expect this ‘Select Committee’ to recommend changes and enact legislation that will essentially put control of future elections in the hands of the State Legislature. It is being done in other states. “Republican-held state legislatures have passed bills that give lawmakers more power over the vote by stripping secretaries of state of their power, asserting control over election boards and creating easier methods to overturn election results, according to the New York Times.”2 “Republican state lawmakers have introduced at least 216 bills in 41 states to give legislatures more power over election systems, according to the States United Democracy Center, a bipartisan organization created to protect democratic norms.”2
That is really the end game here. This push for the Select Committee is not about election security rather it is about securing the hold that the Republican party has on Montana. There is no other rational explanation. Trump won the state overwhelming. The Republicans swept state wide offices. There has been zero evidence of voter fraud. And yet, here we are.
If Montana, with its two U.S. Senators and soon to be two U.S. Representatives, were an outlier in the electoral landscape of America, it would be one thing. But this is happening across the country on a huge scale. Had these laws been in place in Montana and across the country in 2020, it is quite likely that Trump would be president today and the election would have been overturned by these partisan legislatures regardless of what the actual vote count indicated.
If democracy dies in this country, it will likely not be because of a onetime traumatic wound, rather it will be death by a thousand cuts. Each of these laws that are passed under the guise of election security is, in reality, just another razor blade making a small cut into the body of democracy.