Around the United States for the last several years, Republicans have pushed legislation and regulations to make voter registration and voting more difficult. As we all know, and Republicans like Trump and a few others have publicly admitted, they do not do well at the polls when more people vote.
Back in March of 2020, Trump stated on Fox News that opening up voting to more American citizens would mean “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” We’ve even had a few Republican state legislators in Montana acknowledge the problem for Republicans in Montana when more citizens vote.
Trump was saying something that many Republicans believe: Republicans do better when it’s harder to vote. That’s why many Republicans support more stringent voter ID requirements and registration purges. If they can’t win on their own merits, they don’t seem to have any ethical restraints about rigging the system.
We should be focused on making it as easy as possible for an American citizen to register and vote, not more difficult. Evidence of widespread voter fraud is almost non-existent. For more information about this, read “The Myth of Voter Fraud” at http://www.brennancenter.org. Yet Republicans continue to use scare tactics revolving around voter fraud because it serves their purpose. To this end they have tried in multiple states to rig the system to make it more difficult to vote by mail.
We have long had the ability in Montana to vote by mail. It has worked exceptionally well here. Yet Republicans just recently tried to have it blocked in court. Thankfully, District Judge Dana Christensen of the US District of Montana determined that the plaintiffs failed to provide “even an ounce of evidence” to support their claim.
“The evidence suggests, however, that this allegation, specifically in Montana, is a fiction,” Christensen wrote.
His decision was upheld by the US Supreme Court this month. This means we can go ahead wisely and safely with mail-in voting in Montana for this upcoming election.
Personally, I have voted by mail since 1999, first in Oregon and since in Montana. It’s ideal. Almost non-existent election fraud. Convenient as hell and much more civilized. I vote from the comfort of my home. Safe. No COVID-19 risks involved. No standing in lines. No driving to some polling station when I don’t feel like driving anywhere. It is a beautiful thing and I will never consider voting at a polling station again.
My only concern now is that Trump has possibly damaged the US Postal Service through gutting services with the aid of one of his campaign donors he appointed as Postmaster General.
To allay this concern, my options now include mailing my ballot using Certified Return Receipt, or dropping the ballot into a ballot box Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the Seeley Lake Tax Extension Office, 3360 Hwy. 83 N., 10 AM to 2 PM, across from the Pines Hideaway in the Missoula County Satellite building.
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