From Your Senator: Election Integrity

Our current U.S. Attorney General is attacking states’ attempts to protect the integrity of their elections.

I support a Montana approach to retain election integrity. Montana should stand up for its right to determine its own voter laws, not come under the Washington, D.C. thumb of Atty. Gen. Eric Holder, the man who has also declared that the Second Amendment does not really give individual citizens the right to bear arms.

I support Montana Voter ID. There’s little substance to the argument that it eliminates legitimate voters. If you don’t have a valid driver’s license, other photo ID will work. ID cards can be obtained for $8 from any driver’s license office (8th and Main in Polson, 883-3755). You cannot board a plane, write a check at the post office or sell most scrap metal without one. Granted, it does place responsibility on a voter. (The Council on Aging recommends seniors carry photo ID in case of an incapacitating emergency.) Voting is our most important civic duty. It determines the management of our schools, our towns, counties, state and nation.

Here’s a chilling example of inaccuracies in our voter information. In March, I obtained a current voter roster from our elections staff to mail my campaign post cards. It included names of deceased residents. I asked the Lake County elections people how they keep up with deaths. There is no consistent incoming source of death, nor felony conviction data. This frustrates our local elections officials, as their goal is to maintain complete accuracy. I will work on implementing a reliable process to enable our elections people to remove the deceased; and convicted felons from current voting rosters.

Awareness and political will is building in other states to shore up election laws. These states are proposing sensible safeguards to protect all legal voters. Last legislative session, I carried a bill through the Senate to eliminate election-day voter registration. The governor vetoed it and in a showy public exhibition, flamed it with his branding iron.

We all deserve Montana-style integrity in our elections process now and in the future. I pledge my continued efforts to be part of that important goal. Respect and protect your right to vote. Proudly use your ID and take pride in an honest election.

As always, your calls and questions are welcome; Senator Carmine Mowbray, 883-4677; carminemowbray@gmail.com.