Court shoots down GOP effort to block all-mail election option
U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen called the plaintiffs’ claims that voting by mail would lead to widespread fraud “a fiction.”
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Montana Free Press
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit brought by Republican groups seeking to halt mail-in voting during Montana’s November election, calling the plaintiffs’ claims that voting by mail would lead to widespread fraud “a fiction.”
Last month, President Donald Trump’s campaign, the Montana Republican Party, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee sued Gov. Steve Bullock and Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, alleging that Bullock’s 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.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen rejected the argument and dismissed the case on the basis that the plaintiffs couldn’t provide any examples of voter fraud in Montana.
“Central to some of the Plaintiffs’ 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,” Christensen wrote in his ruling. “When 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.”

Absentee 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. “There is no record of election fraud in Montana’s recent history, and it is highly unlikely that fraud will occur during the November 3, 2020 general election,” Christensen wrote in his ruling. “This 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.”Thank you, Montana! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/ueRPkilvtg
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) September 15, 2020
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 @cjaadland on Twitter.
Note: This story originally appeared on Montana Free Press. It is published under a Creative Commons license.
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