5 September 2020 — 1835 mdt
Commissioners Mitchell & Mr. Covid naysayed
Flathead Commissioners Holmquist & Mitchell
vote for an all mail ballot election
Pam Holmquist and Phil Mitchell came lately to Jesus on a mail ballot election, but to Jesus they did come. Thursday morning they saw the light, joining the Church of Covid-19 Prevention in time to rescue poll workers, poll watchers, and voters, from the risk of catching the SARS Cov-2 virus while conducting an at the polls election during a pandemic.
I thank them. Everyone should thank them. Their reversal required not just a willingness to learn: it required considerable courage. Although they did the right thing, some of their fellow Republicans never will forgive them.
What brought about this change of heart? I think large segments of the medical community lobbied for an all mail ballot. Covid-19 cases are on the upswing in the Flathead. My sources report that Kalispell Regional Hospital’s Covid surge capacity is almost maxed out.
Equally important, Mitchell and Holmquist said they were disturbed and moved by outbreaks of Covid-19 in Flathead nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They had a heart, they opened their minds to new information, and they subordinated the priorities of the Republican Party to the needs of the community.
That’s important. As the plots below reveal, the number of daily new cases in Montana now is close to an order of magnitude higher than it was in March and April, when the decision was made to hold a mail ballot primary.
These data did not faze our third commissioner, Randy Brodehl. According to the Daily InterLake,anti-mail ballot lawsuit filed by Trump, the national GOP, and Montana’s GOP, in federal district court in Helena this week. Evidently, he thinks that lawsuit will prevail. I do not. Most of the complaint is a list of horribles about mail elections outside Montana. The rest alleges Gov. Bullock violated the U.S. and Montana Constitutions by exercising powers reserved exclusively for Montana’s legislature.
Chris Aadland of the Montana Free Press has the best account of the GOP’s lawsuit, which one of of similar anti-mail ballot lawsuits being filed around the country. Visit law professor Rich Hasen’s Election Law Blog to keep up to date on Trump’s effort to delegitimize voting by mail.
After the commission voted for a mail ballot election, the Flathead County Democratic Party issued a short statement praising Holmquist and Mitchell:
Moments ago, Flathead County Commissioners Holmquist and Mitchell voted in favor of Resolution 2525, ensuring that we’ll be conducting the November 3 general election under the mail ballot. The Flathead Democrats wish to be among the very first to thank the Commissioners for depoliticizing the local COVID response, and putting the health safety and general welfare of Flathead County residents first. Well done Commissioners Mitchell and Holmquist, and thank you.
The Flathead Republican Party, a subunit of the Montana Republic Party, which is part of Trump’s anti-mail ballot lawsuit, did not issue a statement on the commission’s vote, let along a statement heaping heartfelt kudos on Holmquist’s and Mitchell’s unauthorized act of civic responsibility.