WHEREAS, Republican solidarity in opposition to the Democrat socialist agenda is necessary to preserve the security of our country, our economic and political freedoms, and our way of life; and
WHEREAS, Republican faithfulness to its conservative principles and public policies as dictated by members of the GOP during convention and found in the Montana State Platform is necessary to maintain and restore the trust of the electorate in the Republican Party and a proven path that will lead to Republican electoral victories; and
WHEREAS, we understand the broad written form of the whole of the Montana GOP Platform provides a great narrative tool for discussing our beliefs, it is a mechanism to detail policy to support in legislation; and
WHEREAS, the MTGOP has a responsibility to develop a simple set of Principles based upon the MTGOP Platform that could then be applied to all proposed legislation;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the MTGOP identifies the following ten (10) policy positions to be detailed in the Montana Republican Platform in a “Principles” section that shall be placed immediately after the Preamble and thus before the main body of planks;
The Republican Party of Montana recognizes that this Platform and these 10 principles are the only source for the values, definitions, and expectations the members of this association recognize when evaluating a candidate for public office within the Primary Election, as the Republican members alone have determined these by Convention.
The Republican Party of Montana also recognizes the primary goal of this Platform and principles is the expectation that our elected officials will use it as a directing guide when making decisions.
We also expect a report be issued by the State Republican Party on the voting results for those standards of each Legislator to all members of the Republican Party.
WHEREAS, The Montana Republican Party, the party of equality, the party of opportunity for all, party of favoritism for none and to encourage and allow the broadest possible participation of all voters in Montana.
WHEREAS, Montana has operated on a well-understood and relatively uniform election system that has been implemented over one hundred years to support our constitutional republic.
WHEREAS, Montana primary and general elections ensure that voters who support one candidate, not a plurality of candidates, are heard clearly while ranked choice voting schemes open elections to ‘ballot exhaustion’ on the disenfranchisement of voters who choose not to support multiple candidates who do not clearly represent their values;
WHEREAS, States and communities where ranked choice voting has been tested have consistently decreased voter participation in those communities and in many cases the elections have resulted in more discarded votes than counted votes;
WHEREAS, Ranked choice voting often results in additional tabulation delays resulting in days or weeks of additional counting while depending exclusively on technology without traceable ballots to support determined winners; and
WHEREAS, Supporters of ranked choice voting seek to eliminate or disempower party primaries; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Republican Party of Montana rejects ranked choice voting and similar schemes that increase election distrust, and voter suppression and disenfranchisement, eliminate the historic political party system, and put elections in the hands of expensive election schemes that cost taxpayers and depend exclusively on confusing technology and unelected bureaucrats to manage it; and
RESOLVED, Montana calls on the Congress, Montana State Legislature, and voters to oppose ranked choice voting and similar schemes at every level of government.
Paid for by Gallatin County Republican Chair Committee. Treasurer, Debbie Moran PO Box 2005 Bozeman, MT 59771-2005