New Year, Same Old Republican Party

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 5, 2022

CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org

GOP Gearing Up to Waste Our Time With Sham ‘Election Integrity Committee’

Helena, MT – MTGOP leadership has announced their plans to convene a special committee on “election integrity” for the 68th Session of the Montana Legislature, following shortly after three of their voter suppression laws from last session were struck down by the courts. 

The Republican Party wasted Montanans’ time and taxpayer money last legislative session by passing obviously unconstitutional bills, under the premise of false “election integrity” conspiracy theories. Three of their voter suppression laws were struck down as unconstitutional by the courts. Just two months after the judicial decision, the Conspiracy Theorists-in-chief are back to their same old tricks, potentially throwing the state back into a costly– and fruitless– legal saga. 

At the forefront of the state’s conspiracy-minded legislators, Committee Member Theresa Manzella (R-Stevensville) has made unending and unsubstantiated demands for an election integrity commission since the 2020 election. Manzella currently has 39 bill drafts related to Montana elections.

Fellow committee member Rep. Bob Phalen (R-Lindsay) traveled on taxpayer dime to a “symposium” hosted by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell the previous year. 

“It’s a new year, but it’s the same old time-wasting, conspiracy theories from the Republican party,” says Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “Montanans expect real results from their legislators they send to Helena. When will Montana Republicans stop wasting all our time and get to work?”

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