Party platforms paint clear picture for state voters
This election season has political parties describing their opponent’s views in wildly negative language. Ignore that! Instead, consult each political party’s official platform. The Montana Republican Party Platform and Montana Democratic Party Platform are available online. I downloaded them on July 27. Here are some comparisons:
The Republican platform mentions women twice, “Montanan Republicans are men and women of all walks of life” and marriage “only between one man and one woman.” The Democratic platform lists multiple actions for “securing equal opportunities … for every woman and ensuring safe, healthy, and nurturing environments for all women.”
Republicans support “returning federally managed public lands to the state,” and they oppose “publicly funded subsides for conservation easements.” Democrats support “conservation easements … even if there is a net gain of public land” and “federal ownership and management of federal public lands in Montana;” they oppose “transfer … of federal public lands to … state governments.”
Republicans support “the expansion of private health care options” and “veterans’ affairs … vouchers to private carriers;” they oppose “expansion of government provided health care services to able-bodied adults.” Democrats support “expanding Medicaid to all low-income Montanans;” they oppose “government actions that interfere with the rights of individuals to make their own
health decisions” or “[limiting] insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions” or “privatization of any veterans’ health services.”
Republicans support “… multiple schoolchoice options;” they oppose “federal directives that interfere with local control.” Democrats support “increasing state and federal funding [for] … public education, and university research;” they oppose “use of public funds for private education initiatives.”
Republicans oppose “classification of CO2 or other greenhouse gasses as dangerous gasses or pollutants.” Democrats support “liability for disposal of CO2” and “finding solutions to human-caused climate change.”
There are other contentious issues. Please read the party platforms yourself.
Martin A. Hamilton
Bozeman
Younger people should apply to help with elections
I wish to encourage healthy people younger than 65 to apply to work in the elections in November. I am now 75 and will not be working, choosing to avoid possible exposure to COVID-19.
For over 10 years I sat at the polls in Alaska and enjoyed being part of the election process. When I moved to Bozeman 3-1/2 years ago, I immediately took the training, but was not needed. However, I was offered the position of election judge, and have done that for at least two elections. Both jobs are interesting and revelatory. I expect you will be impressed, as I was, at how dedicated people are in making sure everyone has a vote, and that every vote is seriously considered.
The election judges work in teams of three and you must all three agree if there is any question about a ballot. For example, if the machine has rejected a ballot, our job is to study the ballot and discover why it was rejected, and then whether we can determine and agree on what the voter intended. We also spend extraordinary time processing votes from overseas military — the steps being many and laborious, but all necessary. You might do two to four different types of work on the ballots in a day.
If more people do not volunteer to replace the elderly who choose not to take the risk, our vote totals may be quite delayed. The pay is nominal, but you would be doing a needed service to your community. To determine if you are eligible, see https://www.workelections.com/j/3703/ Gallatin-County or https://sosmt.gov/elections/judge/
Robyn Lauster
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letters to the Editor 8/26/20