Letters to the editor March 31

Voting Rights Bill

Mr. Barney’s recent letter about the Freedom to Vote/John Lewis Voting Rights Bill contained statements that suggest he hasn’t read the full text of the bill.

The point of living in a republic democracy is that every eligible voter should have ready access to casting his/her vote and at present access to voting is not uniform. Our elections have been not been found to have had significant voter fraud. After the 2020 election there were 62 voter fraud suits filed after Mr. Trump claimed the election that he lost fair and square was “rigged.” Sixty-one of those suits were defeated, and the one that wasn’t occurred in Pennsylvania and resulted in the judge giving the affected voters three days after the election to provide proper ID. The U.S. Supreme Court twice refused to hear cases brought to overturn results. What very little fraud that was validated did not change any outcomes.

The concern he expressed about secure ballot drop boxes are baseless. Secure ballot drop boxes have been used successfully (and non-fraudulently) for almost two decades. They are commonly used in states where all general voting is done by mail, including in Republican-led Utah. Ballot boxes are more secure than stand alone mailboxes and can only be opened by qualified election workers.

We do have voter suppression which is part of our country’s problem and this includes accessibility to voters who are handicapped and/or older adults, as well as voters who have limited access due to restrictive, unnecessary voting access impediments. Mr. Barney makes the leap saying this bill would create the specter of single-party rule in this country, while there is nothing in the bill to support that concern.

The Senate Republicans have used filibusters to stop senators from voting on the Voting Rights Bill and that is to our detriment. I ask Montanans to actually read the text (tedious as it is) and ask Senator Daines and Senator Tester to move the Voting Rights Bill forward.

— Rayne Beach, Whitefish

Fraud concerns not baseless

In response to comments by Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, on the validity of the 2020 election, I would like to reply.

A recent nationwide poll revealed the 60% of poll respondents believed that fraud occurred in the 2020 election. This number has continued to grow over time. A number of local elected officials report that the biggest concern among their constituents is election integrity.

Rep. Bedey’s “nothing to see here, move along folks” attitude is dismissive and does a disservice to the 86 members of the Montana Legislature who have requested a review of the 2020 election. The 86 legislators comprise more than a “cabal.”

I would be very interested in the sources and basis that Rep. Bedey researched to determine that claims of fraud were baseless. I don’t consider the mainstream media and elected officials with a vested interest in denying fraud as irrefutable sources.

Highly credentialed and qualified sources across the U.S. have provided significant evidence of vote manipulation yet such evidence is continually ignored. I suggest reading the recent report out of Mesa County, Colorado as one very well documented example.

In recent years, the Department of Defense, the Pentagon, the various credit reporting agencies, international banks and, closer to home, Logan Health have all been victims of hacking and data manipulation and theft. To deny that possibility with our electronic voting systems is reckless and irresponsible.

Flathead County signs contracts with electronic voting equipment suppliers that expressly prohibit examining the software used to tabulate the votes and conducting an internal inspection of the actual machines for hardware internet connection capability. This alone should be a warning flag to any concerned citizen.

The validity of our votes is one of our most sacred gifts. We must do all that we can to insure that validity.

— Ted Valentiner, Whitefish

Election integrity

Anomalies, irregularities ... heaven forbid the use of the word “fraud” for fear of censorship ... call it what you may. Any discrepancies in our elections should be cause for concern.

In January 2021, Montana made national headlines after an audit of the 2020 election indicated 6.33% of all ballots cast lacked matching signature envelopes in Missoula County. Without registration information, postmark dates, and signature verification, election officials cannot determine their legitimacy, making it unlawful to count such votes.

Election data specialist Seth Keshel also estimated in the 2020 election Montana had 46,000 excess votes in six counties, one being Flathead County. Data from Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Life shows 30 out of 56 counties were granted money from the organization for election purposes. Missoula and Flathead counties were listed among the six.

These noted irregularities cast doubt in our elections and could possibly suppress voter turnout. Time is of the essence as our 2022 election is nearing.

Contact your state elected officials requesting in-person paper ballots, equal party registered poll watchers, signature verification, photo identification, absentee ballots for the compromised, and drop box removal. Measures should be taken to ensure each lawful ballot is cast and counted, whether Democrat, Republican, or Independent.

— Bette Vinson, Kalispell

Why does Zinke hate eagles?

Ryan Zinke was our Interior Secretary for less than two years before resigning in disgrace with no less than 18 federal inquiries into his actions. I will not be going into those questionable deeds, but they can be found with a quick internet search.

What really got my ire is that he lifted a ban on using lead bullets and lead fishing tackle in federal wildlife refuges. Animals that ingest lead get sick and many die. Scavengers eating the remains of animals shot with lead bullets and waterfowl ingesting lead pellets while feeding commonly get sick and die. This is a well-established fact.

Almost half of all U.S. eagles have spent lead in them. Humans are also affected by lead. We have taken the lead out of paint and gasoline and the ban to remove it from bullets would have kept it out of our eagles and our water.

As Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke oversaw conserving fish and wildlife. His first action in that capacity was to remove the ban on lead bullets even though 10 to 20 million animals are killed each year by spent lead in the U.S. alone.

Zinke is now running again for a Montana congressional seat. What has he learned since resigning in disgrace on Dec. 15, 2018, that would make us think that we would want him back?

My vote will go to Monica Tranel who does not hate eagles.

— Andy Roubik, Corvallis