{"id":1879,"date":"2020-10-01T14:03:52","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T19:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2020-10-01T14:06:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T19:06:30","slug":"montana-free-press-judge-slams-republican-claims-about-voting-by-mail-as-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/10\/01\/montana-free-press-judge-slams-republican-claims-about-voting-by-mail-as-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Judge slams Republican claims about voting by mail as &#8216;fiction&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q6J2ikBIya0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Indianz.Com Video: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/q6J2ikBIya0>Chairman of Crow Tribe | Donald Trump  | Republicans #NativeVote20<\/a> \r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Court shoots down GOP effort to block all-mail election option<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen called the plaintiffs\u2019 claims that voting by mail would lead to widespread fraud \u201ca fiction.\u201d<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Thursday, October 1, 2020<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\"> By Chris Aadland <\/div>\r\n<DIV class=\"source\">Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n<DIV class=\"source-website\"><A \r\nhref=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/\">montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nA federal judge on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit brought by Republican groups seeking to halt mail-in voting during Montana\u2019s November election, calling the plaintiffs\u2019 claims that voting by mail would lead to widespread fraud \u201ca fiction.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nLast month, President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign, the Montana Republican Party, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2020\/09\/02\/trump-campaign-and-republican-groups-sue-to-toss-bullock-directive-allowing-all-mail-election\/\">sued Gov. Steve Bullock and Secretary of State Corey Stapleton<\/a>, alleging that Bullock\u2019s directive allowing counties to individually decide how to conduct their elections was illegal and that an all-mail election would lead to widespread voting fraud. A similar lawsuit later brought by Montana House Speaker Greg Hertz and Senate President Scott Sales was merged with the original lawsuit. Both lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Helena. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nOn Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen rejected the argument and dismissed the case on the basis that the plaintiffs couldn\u2019t provide any examples of voter fraud in Montana. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cCentral to some of the Plaintiffs\u2019 claims is the contention that the upcoming election, both nationally and in Montana, will fall prey to widespread voter fraud. The evidence suggests, however, that this allegation, specifically in Montana, is a fiction,\u201d Christensen wrote in his ruling. \u201cWhen pressed during the hearing in this matter, the Plaintiffs were compelled to concede that they cannot point to a single instance of voter fraud in Montana in any election during the last 20 years.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p><Figure>\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1368\" data-attachment-id=\"1882\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/10\/01\/montana-free-press-judge-slams-republican-claims-about-voting-by-mail-as-fiction\/alvinajnotafraidstevedainesmikepence\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alvinajnotafraidstevedainesmikepence.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1368\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"alvinajnotafraidstevedainesmikepence\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alvinajnotafraidstevedainesmikepence-1024x684.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alvinajnotafraidstevedainesmikepence.jpg\" alt=\"alvinajnotafraidstevedainesmikepence\"  class=\"alignnone img-fluid wp-image-1882\" \/>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">From left: Chairman Alvin &#8220;AJ&#8221; Not Afraid, Jr., Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Vice President Mike Pence at a Republican Party rally in Belgrade, Montana, on September 14, 2020. Photo: <a href=https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mike_Pence\/status\/1305655252729749504>Mike Pence<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe GOP groups also argued that Bullock\u2019s move violated the U.S. Constitution and that only Montana\u2019s Legislature has the authority to suspend state law to allow counties to hold all-mail elections. Christensen rejected both arguments, saying Bullock has the authority to allow mail-in voting under his emergency declaration powers. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nFollowing June\u2019s all-mail primary election, Bullock in August said the state would allow counties to individually decide how to conduct the November general election. He cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the risk of viral spread among crowds at polling places as justification for <a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/bullock-aug-6-general-election-directive.pdf\">the directive<\/a>. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nIn a statement following the ruling, Bullock said the decision should eliminate any concerns that election results will be tainted by fraud. Forty-six of Montana\u2019s 56 counties have decided to hold an all-mail election, according to the statement. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThere is nothing more sacred in our democracy than the right to vote, and no duty of government more important than to keep its citizens safe,\u201d the statement said. \u201cI\u2019m pleased that today\u2019s decision will enable hundreds of thousands of Montanans to vote safely \u2014 in person or by mail \u2014 this coming election.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAttorneys representing the Republican groups and lawmakers didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\r\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n  <\/script><\/div><p><\/p>\r\nPresident Trump has repeatedly claimed \u2014 including in Tuesday\u2019s debate with Democratic candidate Joe Biden \u2014 that he may consider the presidential election results illegitimate because, he claims, mail-in ballots are ripe for fraudulent manipulation. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nIn addition to Christensen\u2019s determination that there\u2019s no evidence an all-mail election in Montana would be marred by fraud, county elections officials have also said that such claims don\u2019t have merit. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nIn a <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/13v4wlBKOu2jmdQJzcH6WAlnnJ_1DaOTC\/view\">July 24 letter<\/a> from the Montana Association of Counties and the Montana Association of Clerks and Recorders\/Election Administrators encouraging Bullock to allow counties to hold an all-mail election, election administrators described the June all-mail primary as a success and added that it had been especially successful compared to elections in states that maintained in-person primary polling. They also noted security measures in place to prevent fraudulent ballots from being cast or counted.  \r\n<p><\/p>\r\nChristensen said Montana has a long history of mail-in voting, with as much as 73% of votes cast via absentee ballots in some recent elections, showing that Montana elections officials can handle an all-mail election. \r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you, Montana! \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ueRPkilvtg\">pic.twitter.com\/ueRPkilvtg<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mike_Pence\/status\/1305673778601418752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 15, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAbsentee ballots will be mailed to people who requested one on October 2. Counties that have chosen to conduct an all-mail election will mail ballots to registered voters on October 9.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThere is no record of election fraud in Montana\u2019s recent history, and it is highly unlikely that fraud will occur during the November 3, 2020 general election,\u201d Christensen wrote in his ruling. \u201cThis is fact, which should provide comfort to all Montanans, regardless of their political persuasion, that between now and November 3, 2020 they will be participating in a free, fair, and efficient election.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<HR><EM> Chris Aadland covers tribal affairs in Montana as a Report for America corps member based in Billings. Before moving to Montana he covered the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming for the Casper Star-Tribune, and has also reported for the Wisconsin State Journal. Contact Chris at caadland@montanafreepress.org and follow <a href=https:\/\/twitter.com\/cjaadland?lang =en>@cjaadland on Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><HR>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<strong>Note: This story originally <a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2020\/09\/30\/court-shoots-down-gop-effort-to-block-all-mail-election-option\/\">appeared on Montana Free Press<\/a>. It is published under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/3.0\/us\/\">Creative Commons license<\/a>.<\/strong>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump and Republicans sued to stop voting by mail in Montana, a state where the Native vote has been crucial.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1882,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13,1,14],"tags":[5,75,72,249,194,85,282,177],"class_list":["post-1879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-coronavirus","tag-donald-trump","tag-judiciary","tag-montana","tag-montana-free-press","tag-republicans","tag-steve-bullock","tag-voting-rights","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alvinajnotafraidstevedainesmikepence.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-uj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}