Jim Elliott

The 1^st Alabama Cavalry Regiment, United States Volunteers, is not a well-known outfit in the history of the Civil War, but it fought alongside General Sherman and served as his escort in the march from Atlanta to the Sea. The regiment was raised in Huntsville, Alabama.

They were men of the northern Alabama hill country who were loyal to the Union and refused to be drafted into the Confederate forces that controlled the state. It was common for areas of Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi to contain citizens of anti-Confederate, pro-Union sympathizers. Indeed, the citizens of today’s West Virginia live in a state that seceded from the Confederate state of Virginia.

I raise this issue to point out that in a political climate that seems to be unified there are always some individuals, groups of people, and even entire geographical areas that think independently from the majority. It is hard for the majority to tolerate this, let alone believe it. But it is something to be reckoned with when we come to Montana politics and especially with those Oregonians, Idahoans, Washingtonians, and yes, Californians who want to form their own state which is free from the liberally political coastal areas.

Here in Montana, we have, and have always had, enclaves of people with different political views who have had to live in political jurisdictions that they disagree with. It is tough, because while the laws are created and enforced by the majority, they have to be obeyed by everyone. This raises a point that I think is willfully ignored by majority governments and that is that the majority ought to be sensitive and accommodating, within reason, to the sensibilities of the minority among them.

Missoula County is a good place to examine. In the Legislature I represented the rural areas of western Missoula County, as well as Mineral and Sanders Counties. It seemed the further one got from downtown Missoula the less love there was for it, but at the same time, it was the trade center for the area, so, like it or not, we had to deal with it.

Now, even though we Montanans believe we are a people of free thinkers, often that means we really want everyone to be free to think exactly like we do, and so tolerance is not high on our list of ways to treat those with different viewpoints.

It has always seemed strange to me that one level of government wants to impose conformity on those governments beneath it, even though they are elected by the same people. So, what might be good for the people of the city of Missoula might not be welcomed by the entirety of Missoula County and there might be conflict between the city and county governments. And definitely, with Republican control of the state government, there is conflict of conservative state government with liberally controlled city governments. This leads to the state passing laws to restrict the abilities of the city government to enact laws that their local citizens want to see.

And once laws are passed that create conflict between those two forces, who decides? Why, the courts, of course, which are non-partisan. For now.

The current Republican idea is to bring the courts to rule in favor of the laws passed by the state government, which presently the courts often disagree with, and so rule against. By being able to put political party labels on judicial positions the majority government can rule the state as it sees fit and control the independence of the lesser governments. To this end, The Republican party in Montana is hoping to enact laws that can help elect courts that are more in tune with Republican thinking.

Probably the most important decision in the writing of the 1972 Montana Constitution was to have the delegates seated in alphabetical order rather than by political party. Who made the motion is lost to history, but the decision itself made history. It freed the delegates from the bonds of political pressure that happen when people are surrounded by others of the same political opinion. It allowed delegates to interact as individuals, rather than political robots. It allowed delegates to think and to contemplate ideas that had a diversity not found in party politics.

It would be good to return to that method today.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and his office are proposing a wide range of legislation in the upcoming legislative session addressing Nevada’s elections and business systems, from regulating the use of artificial intelligence to modernizing commercial recordings.

“Everything we’re trying to do is really focused on ‘how does it impact the Nevadan?’” Aguilar said. “How do we take the politics out of the conversation? How do we work in a collaborative way to get people to come to the table to drive a solution forward?”

Here are five bills that could make their way through the legislative process and be signed into law.

1. Artificial intelligence in elections

Assembly Bill 73 would require campaign-related communications, such as an advertisement or a request for donation, to disclose whether it has been manipulated with artificial intelligence. It also would create a public database for communications that have disclosed the use of AI for both the public and the secretary of state to review.

“It is making sure that voters have accurate information, that they’re getting correct information, or if they’re being given synthetic media that they are made aware that it’s synthetic media,” Aguilar said.

2. Voting changes

A sweeping election bill, Senate Bill 74, proposes several changes to the state’s election systems, including allowing for people with disabilities or physical barriers to vote online using the state’s EASE program and requiring the secretary of state to adopt a cyber-incident response plan for elections.

It also proposes changing the voter registration party affiliation process. If someone registers to vote without an affiliated party, it would list affiliation as “no political party” rather than “nonpartisan.”

Through another election-related bill yet to be numbered, Aguilar would also like to expand the use of EASE to include people in local jails.

He will also address issues Aguilar and clerks observed through the 2024 election, such as ensuring that the counties have the resources to process ballots in a timely manner.

Clark County had 98 percent of the ballots on hand election night, and 90 percent of the results were released that night, Aguilar said. That remaining 8 to 10 percent needs to become more efficient, he said.

“The clerks have done a phenomenal job; our elections went well,” Aguilar said. “It’s the processing that we really have to focus on, and we know that’s our issue.”

3. Campaign finances

Assembly Bill 79 makes changes to campaign finances in the state in order to align with the Federal Election Commission and clarifies the roles of political action committees, according to Aguilar.

It includes authorizing an elected public officer to use unspent campaign contributions to pay for child care costs, caring for an elderly parent or for health insurance premiums if they wouldn’t be able to afford it due to serving in office.

4. Fund for investment fraud victims

Aguilar will also re-introduce Senate Bill 76 to create a fund that would compensate victims of securities fraud. The goal of the fund is not only to compensate victims of fraud so they are not completely set back, but also to encourage people to come forward and hold bad actors accountable, he said.

Investment fraud impacts the retirement community heavily, Aguilar said, and “when you’ve worked really hard your whole life to build up a savings to be able to live the life you want to live, and you’ve been a victim of fraud, it sets you back,” he said.

5. Commercial licensing

Senate Bill 75 concerns commercial recordings and seeks to expand language access for Nevadans by allowing forms to be filed in different languages other than English. It also would allow the secretary of state to better respond to the market by adjusting the price of the state business license, according to Aguilar.

Aguilar said his goal is for Nevada to compete with states like Delaware, which is considered to be the “king of the business file” and great at attracting businesses. If the secretary of state has flexibility to respond to market conditions, the state can be more competitive, Aguilar said.

“We want to be the Delaware of the West,” he said. “We need to be aggressive in making sure business owners understand why Nevada is the place to do business.”

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A ridge of high pressure is building in and will start a warming trend for New Mexico that will only last for a few days.

High temperatures will get back toward average, even above average, for this time of year. That will be cut short this weekend when we return to cooler temperatures and another chance of snow.

Meteorologist Kira Miner shares all the details in her full forecast in the video above.

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