(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Big Sky ... where the 'Big Lie' never seems to die – Daily Montanan [1] ['More From Author', 'January', 'Darrell Ehrlick'] Date: 2023-01-05 For the first time in the state’s history, there’s a supermajority in the Legislature. The Republicans made an encore performance of the 2020 election and didn’t just stop at capturing all the top slots in the state, but two years later snuffed out most of the opposition Democrats in the Legislature, paving the way to do nearly whatever they deem legislatively prudent. Granted, they were aided in their efforts by a hapless Democratic Party, which couldn’t muster candidates in nearly one-third of the races statewide. If just 10 percent of those races would have tilted toward the Democrats – something arguably difficult – then there’s no supermajority. And so before the legislative session began, the Republicans established … drum roll goes here … an election integrity commission. Let’s be real: The only fraud that could conceivably have happened during the Republican routing would wind up hurting Republicans because they’re the only winners. Nevertheless, House Speaker Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, said it’s about time to take a magnifying glass to the state’s election system and ensure that there is no problem with Montana’s election integrity, despite the fact that no known problems exist, and two notable cases where people tried to cheat the system were detected. If we’re just trying to soothe our overheated minds, why not form an alien detection task force to make sure that invaders from a distant planet haven’t somehow seeped into our big old state? I mean, it wouldn’t hurt just to give folks peace of mind, right? Or what about a Yeti task force to ensure that outdoor enthusiasts aren’t bothered by more than grizzlies? More than anything, this is lazy lawmaking, bordering on absurd and dangerous. If lawmakers like Regier were truly so concerned about Montana’s election process, integrity and the systems we have safeguarding it, where were they during the two-week trial in Yellowstone County where the state and a formidable group of challengers combed through thousands of pages of documents, heard expert testimony and went step by step through the election process in Montana, including listening to election administrators from around the state as well as experts from Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s office? The only two lawmakers I saw were former Rep. Geraldine Custer, who served for years as an election administrator before heading to the Capitol. Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, was the Republicans’ sacrificial lamb who tried unsuccessfully to explain why a host of changes that disenfranchised people of color were innocent, benign initiatives. Let’s call this new election integrity committee for what it really is: A needless exercise at attempting to gin up reasons to change a system, much like the discredited judicial integrity committee that seemed to produce nothing more than a bunch of questionable conclusions that bordered on libel, and found, at most, a need for a better email retention policy. So much for widespread outrage. Montana’s system of elections continues to set the standard for efficient, accurate and transparent elections. If lawmakers are truly so concerned about it, they already have independent and trusted auditors who work for them that could complete a nonpolitical review. But that isn’t what this is about. The danger isn’t in looking into the election system – they’re clearly free and capable of researching whatever the legislative leaders deem committee-worthy. But Montana’s election process has been put on trial repeatedly in the past five years, including in front of at least three different judges – Jessica Fehr, Donald Harris and Michael Moses – and all of them have found the system to be accurate and safe. Instead, the GOP has already made this a political stunt by appointing Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, to the committee. Manzella is the Montana Republican Party’s chief Kool-Aid mixer when it comes to conspiracy theories, palling around with a cadre of other state Republican leaders to promote the fever dreams of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. She’s also advocated for a number of questionable reforms to Montana’s system, including the hand counting of all ballots. The problem with this latest iteration of election integrity is that it is a repetition of a lie. The lie, of course, is that there are any problems with the election system. And shame on the leaders who know that the more they question and raise doubts about election fraud in Montana, the more people may lean into the belief by virtue of hearing about it over and over again. The average Montanan might not stick around long enough – may not endure two weeks’ worth of testimony – to discover that all of these efforts lead to the same unsurprising conclusion: Montana’s elections are safe, transparent and trustworthy. Sadly, there is something wrong in general, though. The same people who are elected by this safe election system are the same ones who turn around to attack or undermine it. They are in charge of safeguarding it, but continue to weaken it by acting as if something is wrong, clinging to bizarre and discredited fraud theories forwarded by a former twice-impeached president who will be lucky to escape bankruptcy or prison. The “Big Lie” is sadly alive and well in the Big Sky. 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