Yesterday the
Republican Party of Montana announced that it was abandoning its plans
to challenge the voting eligibility of at least 6,000 residents of that
state-mostly in democratic strongholds-who had filed change-of-address
cards with the U.S. Postal Service. In a letter sent to election
officials in seven counties, state GOP executive director Jacob Eaton
withdrew the party's challenges and said they would be issuing no more.
Several hundred letters requesting that individuals confirm their
correct addresses had already gone out from overworked election offices
before the GOP withdrew its challenge.

Voting rights groups, including Project Vote,
had previously condemned the plan to challenge the voters as an illegal
voter caging operation intended to intimidate and suppress thousands of
eligible Montana voters. In a statement released October 3, Project
Vote attorney Teresa James, author of the 2007 report Caging Democracy: A 50-Year History of Partisan Challenges to Minority Voters,
pointed out that Montana law and the National Voter Registration Act
allowed voters who had moved to cast their ballots in their old
precincts and change their address at the polls. "In light of these
state and federal protections," James said, "challenging voters who
have filed a change of address with the U.S. Post Office would serve no
purpose other than to interfere with the orderly conduct of the
election and intimidate voters. Democracy works best when all eligible
citizens participate in the process."

"My intent was to ensure that voters are properly registered and that
Montanans would have the utmost faith in the integrity of our elections
process," Eaton wrote in the letter to election officials.
"Nevertheless, because of the unintended consequences that have been
reported, I will not file any other elector challenges."

Following a story about the challenges that appeared in The Missoulian
on October 2, the "unintended consequences" of the GOP challenge
included chaos at election boards, condemnation from voting rights
groups, protests within Montana, and a lawsuit filed by the Montana
Democratic Party on behalf of two challenged voters. In the Montana Standard,
Lieutenant Governor John Bohlinger, a Republican, called the challenge
"an utter disgrace," and said he was "appalled by the leadership of
[his] political party."

The developments in Montana came just a few weeks after reports of the
Michigan GOP's plans to challenge the eligibility of voters whose names
appeared on foreclosure lists. Met with similar public outrage and
accusations of voter caging, the Michigan GOP recanted those plans as
well, according to the Michigan Messenger.  

"We are pleased to hear that the Montana GOP has decided to withdraw
the challenges," James said today. "And we are encouraged that these
kinds of partisan caging operations-which have been used in previous
years to disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters-are being met this
election cycle with the media scrutiny and public outrage they deserve."

"The plans to challenge thousands of eligible Montana voters were made,
like most such suppression efforts, under the guise of protecting
against a mythical threat of 'voter fraud,'" James continued. "But
their quick withdrawal in the face of public scrutiny supports our
position that partisan challenges are not motivated by genuine concern
over alleged 'voter fraud', but by a cynical desire to keep some people
from voting at all."