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On Monday, two Republican state lawmakers spoke with the Montana Legislative Council to reiterate a call made earlier this fall for the establishment of a special legislative committee to investigate suspected violations in the 2020 elections in Montana. The appeal was originally submitted to the legislative leadership in a letter signed by 86 Republican lawmakers on October 5.
Senator Theresa Manzella of R-Stevensville, speaking to the committee during public comments, acknowledged the challenge outlined in the Legislative Service’s October 15 response that the formation of such a committee requires obtaining approval from the State House of Representatives. Majority approved. Manzella proposed to the committee two possible options: appoint a committee composed of only state senators, and Senate Chairman Mark Brasdell has the right to do so; or public opinion on the members of the House of Representatives via telephone, e-mail, and traditional mail Investigate, "to determine whether they are willing to support the vote and the special committee."
Manzera asked for funds for investigations to be provided from accounts reserved for the Legislative Council to deal with "emerging issues," or possibly from federal COVID-19 relief funds allocated to the state. She suggested that the latter might be eligible, because Montana's decision to hold the 2020 election by mail was a direct response to the pandemic and "caused many of the problems and allegations that we are seeking to resolve."
Manzera said: "It is very important to recognize that this effort is actually driven by our citizens. They ask our legislature to do our work and comply with our constitutional directives to ensure the purity of the election. And prevent abuse of the electoral process.".
"Every voter wants to see some guarantee of fairness, honesty, and openness in the election. As Senator Manzella said, our goal is to provide an opportunity to collect data to prove or refute what violations have occurred (if If so)."
Representative Brad Zida (R-Missoula) also took to the podium on Monday to encourage the city council to act upon request. Qida responded to Manzera, describing the promotion of legislative investigations on election security as "citizen-driven" and reiterated his claim that there were irregularities in the 2020 election in Missoula County. These claims are based on a referendum conducted in January last year by an organization called the Missoula County Election Integrity Project to confirm the envelope counts of which Tschida is a member. The organization later changed its name to the Montana State Electoral Integrity Project, and obtained the envelope through Tschida's request for public records to the Missoula County Election Office.
Missoula County election administrator Bradley Seaman often defends his office's practices and the county's 2020 election results.
"Every voter wants to see that the election is a certain guarantee of fairness, honesty and openness," Qida said. "As Senator Manzera said, our goal is to provide an opportunity to collect data to prove or disprove what violations (if any) occurred."
No other legislators made public comments in support or opposition to the request on Monday.
In his comments, Qida listed several issues that he said voters had contacted him, including the votes they received sent to their deceased relatives. He said that such anecdotal evidence suggests that the state voter roll is "not well maintained." This spring, Republican lawmakers resolved this issue with Senate Bill 170, which requires Montana election administrators to maintain the list of registered voters every year. When Tschida testified in March in support of SB 170 in the House of Representatives, he publicly expressed his claims for Missoula County violations for the first time.
As for funding the Special Investigation Committee, Qida also suggested that the Legislative Council consider using federal relief funds. He estimated that this work would cost approximately $50,000, which he called "trivial."
Joining Manzella and Qida's call for action was Helena resident Mary Beveridge, who made many of the same allegations of voting violations and deficiencies in existing state election laws. Beveridge said that for the past ten years she has been worried about the "lack of election integrity" in Montana and suggested that a clear definition of election fraud would be a good place for the legislature to start work. In 2013, Beveridge testified in support of a bill to terminate voter registration on the same day when she claimed to be the founder of the Montana Voter Integrity Project.
"We need to study best practices across the state and counties," Beveridge said. "We need to look at ballot inventory tracking. Our ballots should be treated as assets, just like you would treat cash drawers or any assets you own in your business. When we ask election administrators to provide this information, we should not ask for this information. We are accused of providing this information."
Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office confirmed that it had a previously unreported meeting with MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and election suspected state senator Theresa Manzella, R-Stevensville, on November 10. At the time, Lindell was trying to get the support of the state attorney general in a lawsuit challenging the 2020 presidential election.
The appeal came after Manzera and Qida worked hard last month to ensure that Attorney General Austin Knudsen signed in a lawsuit challenged by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2020 presidential election. According to Knudsen spokesperson Emilee Cantrell, the challenge of this proposal was led by Mike Lindell, founder of MyPillow and critic of the 2020 election, who attended a meeting in Knudsen's office as a guest of Manzella on November 10. Manzella confirmed to the Montana Free Press last week that Knudsen refused to sign the lawsuit.
The council did not discuss the special committee's request, nor did any member respond to Manzela or Qida's statement. Blasdel did point out that since the committee has developed a plan to spend its "emerging issues" funding, he is still not sure what resources can be used to fund the request.
"That's my worry," Blasdell said to the room before the meeting ended. "It's not whether I can put the committee together, but where I get the resources to fund it."
Will NorthWestern Energy be punished or prosecuted for the dehydration of the Madison River and the Westerly fire in Denton? Legal experts are involved.
To address the labor shortage in Montana, Governor Greg Gianforte proposed to increase the number of apprentices that the site supervisor can supervise. The propaganda has won many commercial benefits, but union leaders and businessmen are worried about the impact on the quality of education and workplace safety.
The COVID statistics and situation in Montana continue to change rapidly, almost constantly increasing uncertainty. MTFP is collecting expert answers to your latest COVID questions. A new survey is now included so that you can tell us more about what you need to know.
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News happens every day, and not only at the national or state level. It happens in your towns and communities, and in-depth, independent reporting of news on the street is as important as reporting on the news of the state assembly. Montana Free Press’s mission is to expose stories that matter to you, which means more coverage in more places across the state. But to do this, we need your help. In our year-end fundraising event, your one-time donation or a new 12-month recurring commitment (up to $1,000) will be matched against the U.S. dollar, which will help the Montana Free Press to report more issues More communities. We will be able to provide in-depth coverage of local issues while remaining ad-free, unbiased, and accessible to everyone.
Staff reporter Alex Sakariassen covered the educational beat of the Montana Free Press and the state legislature. Alex has written long narrative stories over the past ten years, highlighting the people, politics, and wilderness of Montana. As a native of North Dakota, he divides his free time between the ski resorts of Missoula and the tranquil trout waters in front of the Rocky Mountains. Contact Alex via email asakariassen@montanafreepress.org.