Data analyst said 59 people in Montana tried to vote in 2021, but were denied

(Day by day Montanan) A database analyst employed by Montana’s largest union testified on Wednesday that in the course of the municipal elections held in 2021, she recognized 59 voters who tried to register to vote between midday the day earlier than the election and on Election Day, however apparently couldn’t vote due to a legislation handed by the 2021 Legislature.

That legislation, Home Invoice 176, which eradicated Election Day Registration, and two different legal guidelines are on trial as a bunch of plaintiffs, together with Western Native Voice, the Blackfeet Nation and the American Civil Liberties Union, declare the payments violate the Montana Structure and disproportionately goal Native People dwelling on reservations all through the state.

Kendra Miller of Bozeman testified that as a database analyst for the Montana Federation of Public Workers, she was known as upon to investigate the consequences of Home Invoice 176 since its implementation. The 2021 Legislature pushed again voting registration to the day earlier than elections, successfully shortening the “late registration” interval by 36 hours. Miller can also be a well-known identify as she is a part of the five-person state redistricting fee as one of many Democrat-appointed representatives on the panel.

Utilizing publicly accessible databases from the Secretary of State’s web site and utilizing the MFPE’s knowledge request to clerks in all 56 Montana counties, Miller decided that 268 residents tried to register in the course of the 36-hour time interval that was modified by HB 176.

“There have been greater than that that I don’t have identification for as a result of clerks on the workplace mentioned folks got here in to get the paperwork, or requested for data or went away with out finishing the paperwork,” Miller mentioned.

Of that quantity, roughly 80 % of these folks got here in on Election Day, Miller informed the court docket. From there she additional drilled down on the info and it revealed that not all of those that have been registering throughout that quick window had a municipal election they have been eligible to vote in.

After compiling and analyzing the info, Miller decided no less than 59 folks from 10 totally different counties tried to register and will have voted in November 2021, however have been denied a poll. Miller mentioned the quantity could also be greater as a result of three counties didn’t reply to the request.

Miller additionally found that two counties, together with Ravalli County, had residents register previous the midday deadline, however have been processed anyway.

“One county was doing one factor and never the opposite,” Miller mentioned.

Greater than 200,000 votes have been solid throughout 2021, usually thought-about an “off election” 12 months as a result of solely municipalities or college board elections usually occurred.

Miller analyzed the 59 voters and decided that 35 of the voters have been new to Montana, 16 have been voters shifting from different Montana counties, and the remaining eight have been registered in the identical county, however wanted to change precincts.

Nonetheless, legal professional Lars Phillips, who’s a part of Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s authorized group, requested Miller if these 59 voters might have been denied a poll for different causes.

“You offered a concept about these 59 voters not having the ability to vote,” Phillips mentioned.

“It’s not a concept,” Miller responded, “it’s a conclusion.”

“Somebody would possibly get the info and do the analysis and never give you the identical conclusion. Do you agree that’s potential,” Phillips requested.

“I may very well be mistaken if there’s new data that the county has that I didn’t find out about, however utilizing the knowledge from the general public knowledge request, and primarily based on this data, it’s no less than 59 voters who might have voted,” she replied.

Phillips requested if was potential that these 59 folks might have been ineligible for different causes, together with residency necessities.

One other voter denied

Earlier than Miller took the stand, Bozeman resident Sarah Anne Denson testified that she’d been turned away on the Gallatin County Election Workplace on Election Day 2021 when she tried to change her registration and vote within the municipal elections. She was one of many 59 folks included in Miller’s analysis as was Thomas Bogle, additionally of Gallatin County, who testified within the trial in Yellowstone County District Courtroom on Tuesday.

Denson described being a Montana State College scholar who moved a number of occasions, and was initially from Miles Metropolis. When the 2021 poll didn’t catch as much as her, she went with a buddy to the election workplace in Bozeman on Election Day 2021 solely to be denied a poll as a result of the registration interval had closed, in step with HB 176.

“I used to be notably excited as a result of one among my buddies who I grew up with was working for metropolis commissioner and he had campaigned on inexpensive housing and being extra housing pleasant,” Denson mentioned. “He was additionally the primary individual I’ve seen that’s my age working for public workplace.”

Attorneys for Jacobsen identified that she might have voted in Custer County (Miles Metropolis), however she mentioned that she had work and couldn’t take the time to drive the six hours every method.

The clerk on the Gallatin County workplace confirmed she couldn’t vote due to the brand new legislation, Denson mentioned, and wasn’t given the chance to vote a provisional poll.

“I felt fairly dissatisfied and bummed out, and in the long run, when my buddy didn’t win the election, I felt that I ought to have supported him and I had watched my roommate register and vote the 12 months earlier than,” Denson mentioned.

Confusion and voter fraud

Kiersten Iwai, the manager director of the Ahead Montana Basis, which has as a part of its mission to register younger voters and get them concerned within the democratic course of, informed the courtroom that these new legal guidelines have created confusion for younger voters, and that many are confused concerning the acceptable identification.

“These layers inhibit an individual’s means to vote,” Iwai mentioned.

Attorneys for Jacobsen pushed again, mentioning the ways in which a voter can register with out having image identification, for instance having the final 4 digits of a Social Safety quantity.

Additionally they requested her questions on whether or not the muse helps safe elections and measures to guard the system from voter fraud.

“I don’t get how these new legal guidelines would forestall fraud that doesn’t exist,” Iwai mentioned.

Northern Cheyenne Tribal Councilmember Lane Noticed Elk informed the court docket that the tribal authorities believes extra Native People use poll collectors or Election Day registration than their non-Native counterparts. He mentioned the brand new guidelines, together with HB530, which bans collectors from receiving any “pecuniary advantages,” make leaders hesitant to take motion for concern of violating the brand new legislation.

“We consider we’d do (get out the vote actions), however we’re undecided of the state’s interpretation,” Noticed Elk mentioned. “The Northern Cheyenne consider in advocating for entry to voting and really feel very strongly about any effort to suppress the Native vote is just not conducive to the Cheyenne lifestyle. Possibly that wasn’t the intent of the Legislature, however that’s what they did. They suppressed it.”