{"id":30262,"date":"2023-01-02T14:04:11","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T19:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=30262"},"modified":"2023-01-02T14:16:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T19:16:21","slug":"montana-free-press-republican-complains-of-handouts-to-native-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2023\/01\/02\/montana-free-press-republican-complains-of-handouts-to-native-voters\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Republican complains of ‘handouts’ to Native voters"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Montana<\/a>
Flags from tribal nations are seen at the Montana State Capitol in Helena. Photo: Eliza Wiley \/ Montana Free Press<\/figcaption>\r\n
HD 80 hopeful questions whether reservation votes should count<\/div>\r\n
Drew Zinecker, an aide to Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, made the comments during a meeting of the Lewis and Clark County Republican Central Committee.<\/div>\r\n
Monday, January 2, 2023<\/div>\r\n
By Arren Kimbel-Sannit<\/div>\r\n
Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n
montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nA legislative aide with aspirations of representing House District 80 in the 2023 Legislature questioned in public remarks last month whether members of tribes living on reservations in Montana should be able to vote in state elections.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cIf the reservations want to say they are independent countries \u2026 but they want a lot of handouts, why are we counting their ballots?\u201d said Drew Zinecker, who will this session serve as a staffer for Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, during a meeting of the Lewis and Clark County Republican Central Committee.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nMitchell did not respond to a request for comment.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nThe committee was gathered to advance potential appointees to HD 80, a district including parts of Lewis and Clark and Powell counties that was recently vacated by Rep. Becky Beard, R-Elliston, who herself was appointed this month to represent Senate District 40, a seat made vacant by the retirement of Sen. Terry Gauthier, R-Helena<\/a>.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nZinecker, one of several candidates who stood for questioning by committee members Tuesday, December 20, 2022, made the comment to mixed applause during a conversation about election integrity. The committee ultimately voted to send all six candidates \u2014 Zinecker, Hailey Oestreicher, Zack Wirth, Valerie Clague, Ken Liston and Nathan Nachtsheim \u2014 forward in the process. A committee combined of representatives from both the Lewis and Clark and Powell County GOP central committees will meet next week to advance three of the candidates for consideration by the Lewis and Clark and Powell County commissioners.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nIn an interview with Montana Free Press after the committee meeting, Zinecker said his perspective on tribal sovereignty and access to the vote is common among conservatives.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a very consensus opinion among conservatives that if the tribes want to continue to assert their sovereignty, that draws into serious question whether they should be allowed to vote or not,\u201d Zinecker said.

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\r\n\"Drew<\/a>
Drew Zinecker is seen on his social media profile on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nZinecker served as an aide to Rep. Brad Tschida, R-Missoula, in the 2021 session. He was also the Senate GOP\u2019s communications director in the 2019 session and ran Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci\u2019s 2020 campaign, among other political jobs.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nWhile working as communications director for the PSC from 2019 to 2020, Zinecker was a main character in a saga of the commission\u2019s internal dysfunction<\/a>. An internal probe identified Zinecker as the likely leaker of emails from then-Commissioner Roger Koopman that found their way to Pinocci and right-wing blog Northwest Liberty News.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nKoopman took the PSC, Zinecker, the commission\u2019s legal department, office administrator Mandy Hinman and commissioners Pinocci, Bob Lake and Brad Johnson to court in late 2020. The case is still outstanding. Zinecker, in response to a question from a central committee member, called the lawsuit \u201cfrivolous and harassing\u201d and said the respondents have all filed motions to dismiss the case.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nZinecker said his comments Tuesday, December 20, 2022, about reservation voting were in regard to state elections, not federal, as \u201cwe can only deal with the state.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n\r\nSen. Jason Small, a Republican from Busby and member of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, said Zinecker\u2019s skepticism about tribal voting in state elections is limited to \u201ca very select group\u201d in the Legislature.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cGoddamn, I can\u2019t believe he said that,\u201d Small said. \u201cIt\u2019s funny but it\u2019s not funny.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n\r\nZinecker said one major justification for his position is that conservatives in state government want to \u2014 but can\u2019t \u2014 audit the finances of tribal nations as the Legislative Audit Committee can with state agencies.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s a big problem. They increasingly assert they are sovereign nations. And if they want to continue to operate on a totally different standard or playing field from Montanans, then they need to truly be those independent nations, and that starts with voting,\u201d Zinecker said.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nThere are 12 federally recognized Native American tribes in the state. Generally, the majority of tribes\u2019 funding comes from the federal government, which does audit tribal finances. <\/a>However, state dollars go to Montana\u2019s tribes as well, accounting for 8% of tribal revenue between 2003 and 2009, according to the Montana Budget and Policy Center. <\/a>

<\/P>\r\n\r\nSmall said tribes in Montana, despite their status as sovereign government entities subject to federal and tribal law, have a \u201csymbiotic relationship\u201d with the state, including numerous revenue sharing agreements and second-order benefits derived from tourism and other economic drivers, he said. Additionally, owners of fee land on reservations \u2014 that is, land not held in trust by the federal government \u2014 must pay state and local property taxes.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cYou can\u2019t pick and choose who votes,\u201d Small said. \u201cWhere do you draw that line \u2014 \u2018Hey, you didn\u2019t pay taxes this year, you can\u2019t vote?\u2019\u201d

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