HELENA, Mont. – Yesterday, Jon Tester and Senate Democrats failed at their third attempt to federalize elections across the country and dictate Montana’s election laws.

H.R. 4, which was originally sponsored by Senator Tester, would have given the Biden Administration the power to overturn state election integrity reforms that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. Thankfully, Montana’s Republican leaders took action to stop the radical power grab in its tracks.

Following the vote on the bill, Senator Steve Daines stated, “Democrats are laser focused on taking over our elections and rewriting the rules in their favor,” Daines said. “The Democrats’ bill this time around is just another power grab that would federalize our elections and undermine commonsense state voting laws. The Democrats should spend a little more time focused on fixing the inflation, energy and border crises they’ve created.”

Montana Congressman Matt Rosendale voted against the legislation when it was voted on in the U.S. House, and said, “I trust Montanans to run free, fair, and secure elections. It is extremely disappointing to see Jon Tester again side with far-left Democrats’ attempts to overrule many of Montana’s recent election reforms and hand complete control over Montana’s elections to Joe Biden and federal bureaucrats.”

Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen released the following statement: “We’re grateful to partner with Senator Daines on standing tall against the federal assault on Montana elections.”

In September, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined a letter along with 22 other state attorney generals to congressional leadership expressing intent to sue if the bill were to pass, stating “This legislation is a misguided, clumsy, and heavy-handed effort to circumvent Supreme Court decisions, state sovereignty, and the will of the people.”

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