Montana Democrat Rips Republicans Over Voter Suppression
Democratic Montana State Senator Bryce Bennett has absolutely had it with the GOP’s crusade against voting rights. In an editorial published in the Great Falls Tribune on Saturday, Bennett, who serves Montana’s 50th Senate District, blasted Republicans for their efforts to make casting a ballot more difficult.
Despite what conservative lawmakers and pundits enjoy saying on propaganda networks like Fox News and Newsmax, the 2020 election was the most secure in American history, according to ex-President Donald Trump’s Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agencies.
Yet in all but three states, right-wing politicians are pushing waves of draconian restrictions that would disproportionately reduce poll access for the disabled, elderly, low-income communities, people of color, and younger voters.
“Today there are 361 bills introduced across 47 states to make it harder for eligible American voters to cast a ballot. In Arizona, Republican lawmakers responded to election losses by quickly introducing a voter suppression bill to make it harder for rural, low-income and minority communities to register to vote, receive a ballot in the mail, and drop it off. In Iowa, GOP lawmakers are pushing a bill to stop election officials from helping to register voters. And perhaps most cruel of all, a new Georgia law makes it a misdemeanor to hand a bottle of water to a voter standing in a long line,” Bennett wrote.
“Republicans have been relentless in their attacks on voting rights. But these attacks are not just happening outside of our borders. Right here in Montana, Republican lawmakers are maneuvering to keep you from voting,” the state senator said.
Our state has free and fair elections we can be proud of, but politicians are pushing a radical agenda to pick their voters, instead of letting voters pick who represents them,” Bennett continued.
“Republican bills are also targeting students and low-income communities with arbitrary and burdensome voter ID rules and forcing people to register with their county to do something as simple as dropping off a ballot for a friend or neighbor,” he added.
“Instead of trying to keep voters out, we should be working to ensure every eligible Montanan can receive and cast a ballot – no matter who you are, where you live, or who you vote for. Our democracy is strongest when every voice is heard and every vote is counted,” Bennett concluded.