“Punch in the Face to American Democracy”

Today, along a party-line vote, the Senate gave final approval to a measure that would eliminate election day voter registration. The measure has already passed the House and will now go to the Governor to either be signed into law or vetoed.

After the passage of the bill, United States Senator Jon Tester said the Republican bill was “a punch in the face to American democracy.” He added, “We should be doing everything we can to increase voter participation, not deny Montanans the right to have a say in their government.”

Since 2006, more than 18,000 Montanans have taken advantage of election day registration in the state. Every county in the state has seen people use the service every year.

This bill is part of a series of Republican proposals that seek to restrict Montanans’ access to voting. They have proposed measures to create the strictest voter identification laws in the nation. Republicans also killed a proposal earlier this session that would move the state to an all mail-in ballot election–something that has seen significant increases in voter participation in other states.