Scott Sales Wants to Limit Montanans’ Access to the Ballot Box

Helena, Mont. – In an interview with Yellowstone Public Radio this week, Republican candidate for secretary of state Scott Sales said he supports efforts to limit Montanans’ access to voting.

Sales said he has “never supported same-day voter registration,” which has been the law in Montana since 2005. Same-day voter registration has been shown to improve voter turnout on Election Day. In fact, Montana was among the top five states with the highest voter turnout on Election Day in 2018, which the nonpartisan voter participation group Nonprofit VOTE largely attributes to policies that promote election participation, including same day registration.

“Scott Sales has admitted he will work to make it harder for Montanans to get to the polls on Election Day,” said Montana Democratic Party Executive Director Monica Lindeen. “The last thing Montanans need is another secretary of state who tries to stifle their constitutional right to vote.”

The secretary of state’s office oversees elections in Montana. But as a state legislator, Sales has voted against multiple pieces of legislation that would make voting more accessible for Montanans. In the most recent legislative session, Sales voted against considering a bill to allow Montanans who are applying for a driver’s license to also register to vote at the same time automatically.

Sales also voted against SB 148, a bipartisan bill to allow Montanans to return their absentee ballots to their polling place on Election Day, instead of driving hundreds of miles to vote.