The Montana Legislature keeps trying to make it harder to vote. This time they are going after same day voter registration, a popular law that allows citizens to register to vote at the polls on Election Day.
Montana lawmakers voted today to end Election Day registration and now the bill is headed to Governor Brian Schweitzer’s desk. He needs to veto it. (Good people of Montana, click here to ask him to do just that.)
The ability to register to vote at the polls on Election Day has lead to greater voter participation in Montana, particularly among young and first-time voters. Nearly 19,000 Montanans have registered to vote on Election Day since current law went into effect in 2006.
Secretary of State Linda McCulloch testified against the bill, telling the Senate State Administration Committee: “House Bill 180 runs counter to the core freedoms of our democracy. If you support freedom, and you support democracy, you cannot support a bill that will turn your neighbors away at the polls.” U.S. Senator Jon Tester said: “This measure is a punch in the face to American Democracy.” We couldn’t agree more.
Just because it is awesome, here is the full statement from Senator Tester:
“This measure is a punch in the face to American Democracy. Voting is a sacred right, yet the Legislature’s irresponsible decision simply makes voting in Montana harder, not easier. We should be doing everything we can to increase voter participation, not deny Montanans the right to have a say in their government. The fact that some Montana legislators want to stack the deck by turning away voters on Election Day is politics at its worst.”
As we have written about before, state legislators in Montana seem to have a rare antipathy towards young voters. Two Montana legislators – Champ Edmunds (the sponsor of this bill) and Ken Peterson (“Sometimes when you are in school, your brain doesn’t work real well.”) – are featured on Rock the Vote’s wall of shame.
If you live in Montana, you can click here to send a letter to Governor Schweitzer, urging him to veto this latest attack on the right to vote.
Tags: champ edmunds, election day registration, ken peterson, Montana, suppression is un-American, young voters
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Thomas Bates Bio: Thomas is Rock the Vote's Vice President of Civic Engagement. @BatesThomas Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com |
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