The message is clear from the Gazette editors. They want to portray Republicans as casually and callously tossing out someone's vote in the same way that someone would toss an empty Coke bottle out of their pickup window.
More will be said about same-day voter registration, but it is a bad idea and a logistical nightmare. As Montana's cities grow, this will only get worse. It is no wonder that the vast majority of states (at least 40) do not have same-day registration.
Democrats downplay the potential for voter fraud in same-day registration, which is understandable, since Democrats have long been the masters of voter fraud nation-wide. More practically, as voter turn-out in various precincts is watched at the polls, political operatives can have an idea of how the vote is going, If polls stay open late registering voters, as happened in Gallitin County, with people still lined up at midnight, then the counting has started, and the trend of the vote is even better known.
At the heart of voter fraud has always been knowing how many votes you need to win an election, and then having the ability to somehow produce those votes at the last minute.
House bill 281 makes it possible to register as close as 4 days to the election, and also requires proof of citizenship. This is going to be a hassle for voters of both parties, but Montana had better get used to it, since as illegal immigration increases in the U.S., using illegals for voter fraud is only going to increase. That problem needs to be prevented from ever starting here.
Responsible citizens can register to vote ahead of time. What Democrats are saying by claiming that this interferes with voter rights is that people who vote Democrat don't know how to plan ahead, and aren't engaged citizens. Why they would want to advertise that fact is anyone's guess.
