86 Montana Legislators Request Special Committee on Elections
State Senator Theresa Manzella (SD-44) shared a letter on Facebook signed by 86 Montana Legislators requesting a Special Select Committee on elections.
The request letter was transmitted to Senate President Mark Blasdel (SD-4) and House Speaker Wylie Galt (HD-30) on Wednesday and includes signatures from 24 State Senators and 62 State Representatives. The representatives are asking for the committee in order to “hear testimony concerning past Montana elections and [to] review the current election laws in Montana,” according to the letter.
“The Select Committee would conduct hearings about the process and security of Montana elections and propose future changes if needed; including legislation,” the letter stated. The legislators cite their authority under the Montana Constitution to hold the committee and review election law in addition to past election results. Under the Montana Constitution, legislators “shall insure the purity of elections and guard against abuses of the electoral process.” In full, Article IV, Section 3 states,
The legislature shall provide by law the requirements for residence, registration, absentee voting, and administration of elections. It may provide for a system of poll booth registration, and shall insure the purity of elections and guard against abuses of the electoral process.
Article IV, Section 3, Elections. Montana Constitution.
As their reason for calling the committee, the legislators cited constituent requests for answers to questions about election security in Montana elections. Last week, the Montana Election Integrity Project and the Ravalli County Republican Women hosted election integrity speaking events in Missoula and Hamilton, respectively.
At the events, hundreds of Montanan’s gathered to listen to two data analysts share anomalies that they uncovered pouring through data related to the Montana 2020 election including voter registration data, state and county race results, and US Census data.
One analyst, former Army Cpt. Seth Keshel, found that in Missoula County, Democrats, who had been on a historic downtrend of turnout after Obama’s first election, suddenly gained 11,814 votes and the county suddenly gained 15,911 new voters in 2020. The previous gain in voters was only 6,302 voters in the historic 2008 Obama election.
The committee on elections could probe the ballot discrepancy found in Missoula County’s 2020 General Election. A review of ballot signature envelopes in January found that 4,592 ballots were missing legally required chain of custody documentation, making it illegal for them to be counted.
According to the letter, the select committee would be a bipartisan committee whose makeup would match the current balance of party power in the legislature.
Senator Manzella shared that citizens interested in supporting the effort could contact Senate President Mark Blasdel or House Speaker Wylie Galt. The letter asks the Legislative leaders to respond by October 6th.
Read the letter:
86-ltr-req-SSC-on-Montana-State-Senate-Letterhead-CopySignatories
Sen Kenneth Bogner – SD19
Sen Bob Brown – SD7
Sen Mike Cuffe – SD1
Sen John Esp – SD30
Sen Jason Ellsworth – SD43
Sen Steve Fitzpatrick – SD10
Sen Chris Friedel – SD26
Sen Terry Gauthier – SD 40
Sen Butch Gillespie – SD9
Sen Carl Glimm – SD2
Sen Greg Hertz – SD6
Sen Steve Hinebauch – SD18
Sen Dave Howard – SD29
Sen Brian Hoven – SD13
Sen Bob Kennan – SD5
Sen Mike Lang – SD17
Sen Theresa Manzella – SD44
Sen Tom McGillvray – SD23
Sen Keith Regier – SD3
Sen Dan Salomon – SD47
Sen Cary Smith – SD 27
Sen Russ Temple – SD14
Sen Gordy Vance – SD34
Sen Jeff Wellborn – SD36
Rep Fred Anderson – HD20
Rep Dan Bartel – HD29
Rep Becky Beard – HD80
Rep David Bedey – HD 86
Rep Seth Berglee – HD58
Rep Marta Bertoglio – HD75
Rep Michele Binkley – HD 85
Rep Larry Brewster – HD44
Rep Ed Buttrey – HD21
Rep Jennifer Carlson – HD69
Rep Geraldine Custer – HD39
Rep Neil Duram – HD2
Rep Julie Dooling – HD70
Rep Paul Fielder – HD13
Rep Ross Fitzgerald – HD17
Rep Frank Flemming – HD51
Rep Gregory Frazer – HD 78
Rep John Fuller – HD 8
Rep Steve Galloway – HD24
Rep Frank Garner – HD7
Rep Jane Gillette – HD64
Rep Steve Gist – HD25
Rep Sharon Greef – HD88
Rep Steve Gunderson – HD1
Rep Ed Hill – HD 28
Rep Caleb Hinkle – HD68
Rep Jed Hinkle – HD67
Rep Ken Holmlund – HD38
Rep Llew Jones – HD18
Rep Josh Kassmier – HD27
Rep Scot Kerns – HD23
Rep Rhonda Knudsen – HD 34
Rep Casey Knudsen – HD33
Rep Dennis Lenz- HD53
Rep Brandon Ler – HD35
Rep Denley Loge – HD14
Rep Marty Malone – HD59
Rep Ron Marshall – HD87
Rep Wendy McKamey – HD19
Rep Braxton Mitchell – HD3
Rep Terry Moore – HD54
Rep Fiona Nave – HD57
Rep Mark Noland – HD 10
Rep Bob Phalen – HD36
Rep Brian Putman – HD9
Rep Joe Read – HD93
Rep Amy Regier – HD6
Rep Matt Regier – HD4
Rep Linda Reksten – HD12
Rep Vince Ricci – HD55
Rep Jerry Schillinger – HD37
Rep Kerri Seekins- Crowe – HD43
Rep Lola Sheldon-Galloway – HD22
Rep Derek Skees – HD11
Rep Mallerie Stromwold – HD50
Rep Jeremy Trebas – HD26
Rep Brad Tschida – HD97
Rep Barry Usher – HD40
Rep Sue Vinton – HD56
Rep Tom Welch – HD72
Rep Kathy Whitman – HD96
Rep Katie Zolnikov – HD45
Great. Waste more taxpayer money on this witch hunt. Way to go Republicans.