VICTORY! Voter Challenges Withdrawn! 

We released the following statement this morning in response to the news that the Montana Republican Party's voter challenges were being withdrawn:

“Obviously, it is good news that Mr. Eaton is now moving to withdraw the 6,000 challenges he filed on behalf of the Montana Republican Party. This action is a vindication of the concerns raised by Forward Montana and other voting rights groups in Montana since day one: that these challenges impacted large numbers of properly and legally registered Montana voters and created unnecessary mass confusion.

“Moving forward, we are currently investigating the legal basis for withdrawing a sworn, signed, and notarized affidavit. We will also continue to monitor activity by the Montana Republican Party and other political organizations and campaigns from all sides of the political spectrum to ensure that no activities are being undertaken that threaten the voting rights of Montanans.

“We now have an obligation to ensure that this situation never repeats itself. We have initiated conversations with lawmakers, policy experts, and constituency groups to craft a legislative agenda to prevent spurious challenges in the future. We are optimistic that a well-crafted legislative package will receive bipartisan support in the 2009 Montana Legislature.”

This is clearly a victory for grassroots politics and for all Montanans. Special kudos, though, go to John and Rikki, the Forward Montana staff in Missoula, who put in long hours organizing against this fight; to Jess and other Forward Montana board members who also put in significant time; to Richelle, the rockstar volunteer who owns this as much as anybody; to the dozens of additional volunteers and hundreds of people who chose to speak out on this. Thank you for all that you do.