Essmann blasted for email opposing all-mail-in ballots

County officials throughout Montana blasted state Republican Party Chairman and Billings Rep. Jeff Essmann Wednesday after he said in an email that he would oppose allowing the special election to replace Rep. Ryan Zinke to be carried out by a mail ballot because it would negatively impact Republicans in future elections.

Essmann’s “Emergency Chairman’s Report” received national attention Wednesday night when it was featured on a segment of MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.”

“After Donald Trump won the presidency by 20 points in that state, Republicans in that state shouldn’t have to worry about the exact logistics about how the next congressional election is held in that state, right?” Maddow said. “They shouldn’t be lobbying to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to try and tilt the playing field against Democrats and make it harder to vote.”  

In the report emailed Tuesday, Essmann encouraged people to tell their legislators to oppose Senate Bill 305, a bill introduced by state Sen. Steve Kirkpatrick, R-Great Falls, that would allow counties the option of conducting the upcoming special congressional election entirely by mail ballot.

“All mail ballots give the Democrats an inherent advantage in close elections due to their ability to organize large numbers of unpaid college students and members of public employee unions to gather ballots by going door to door,” Essmann said in the email.

Numerous officials — including Republicans — have said the point of the bill is to save money. That includes local officials.

“This special federal election, along with all federal and state elections, is 100 percent paid for by the county. It only makes sense to do this election by mail ballot to help save money,” Blaine County Clerk and Recorder Sandra Boardman, a Democrat, said Thursday in an emailed statement.

Boardnman said more voters are voting absentee than going to the polls.

Republican Chouteau Clerk and Recorder Lana Claassen said this morning she and the Chouteau County commissioners — who are also all Republicans — strongly support a mail ballot for the special election.

The bill has had bipartisan support among county officials and state lawmakers including state Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, and Sens. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, and Mike Lang, R-Malta.

Democratic Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy from Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation said Tuesday that, although he has opposed mail ballots in the past, he is leaning toward supporting this bill as long as alternate voting offices for reservations are included.

Essmann added in his email that mail ballots increase turnout of “lower propensity voters,” including on Indian Reservations, lower propensity voters who he said tend to vote for Democrats.

As drafted, the bill would not affect how future elections are held in Montana, which conducts county, state and federal elections at polling places while city and school board elections are held by mail ballot.

The Montana Association of Clerk and Recorder’s said in a column that the bill could save counties money, needed after last November’s election cost a record $3 million.

Hill County Clerk and Recorder Susan Armstrong, a Democrat, said that the issue should not be about party.

“Mail ballot elections are financially cheaper, (we) would not have to worry about polling places or judges and (there would be) a greater turnout for such an important special election,” Armstrong said in an interview via email Wednesday.

In a press release sent out Wednesday, several Republican county officials criticized Essmann for his remarks.

“To suggest that we forego tremendous cost savings in order to stifle turnout is an irresponsible statement,” Liberty County Clerk and Recorder and Election Administrator Angel Colbry said in the release.  

“Just exactly what is a ‘low propensity voter,’” Republican Pondera County Commissioner Janice Hopper said in the release. “This statement further underscores the bad wrap Republicans get on voter suppression.”