Keeping Elections Safe Keeps Montana Safe

Faith in our election process drives our Democracy and has driven much of my legislative career. Requiring photo identification to vote is just common sense, so I put it into law.

Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a voter ID bill I sponsored, SB 276, into law the first week of May. Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen also joined the Governor and me at the signing table. During her campaign for Montana’s top election position, Jacobsen ran on a platform of safe and transparent elections. She and her staff lived up to that promise by helping me develop language for the bill that can withstand legal scrutiny.

I have carried many election integrity bills, including five this session. For several years, I served on the Senate State Administration and Veteran Affairs Policy Committee and even chaired it in 2023. I continue to serve on the Senate interim SAVA Committee. I also chaired the Special Select Joint Committee on newly created Montana Legislative Districts in 2023, as well as the Butte/Silver Bow Primary Election Overcount Senate Select Committee in 2024.

All Montanans, regardless of party affiliation, must have confidence in the purity of our elections. That’s why I focused so much of my time on the issue. I worked across the aisle to rally support for the bill, too. Democratic Senator Jacinda Morigeau helped make sure that the bill includes student photo IDs from tribal and large private colleges.

This session, I also championed SB 490, which will stop late voter registrations on Election Day. The bill opens voter registration on the Saturday before the election in exchange for not conducting registration on the Monday before Election Day. However, voters can register on Election Day until noon. The intent is to smooth out the process and avoid votes being cast many hours beyond the intended closing of the polls at 8 p.m. In one recent election, votes were cast as late as 4 a.m.

I got SB 57 and SB 58 across the finish line as well. The pair of bills emerged from the Butte overcount committee. They revise both the county canvassing processes and the vote counting procedure. Additionally, improvements in training for election officials and county commissioners who canvas votes were established in rules provided by the Secretary of State’s staff.

The legislature also passed SB 226, which establishes a timeframe for delivering signatures on ballot initiatives to county offices. This will reduce fatigue and possible error in the signature verification process. Recently, huge numbers of signatures were delivered at the last minute, swamping workers. 

This bill began with proposals by county officials and the Secretary of State’s office, and it was finalized unanimously in a bipartisan vote by a joint conference committee I chaired. We made sure to consider the testimony of state and county officials, lobbyists and citizens.

The 69th Legislative Session has ended, and so too has my time as a legislator. I’m proud to walk out of the Capitol having made elections a little more trustworthy.

Mike Cuffe is terming out of the Montana Senate after previously having termed out of the House of Representatives. His first session was in 2011. He represents all of Lincoln County and a part of Flathead County. Born and schooled at Eureka, the senator lived 24 years at Libby where he was editor of the Western News for six years before going into plywood and lumber management positions under ownerships of St. Regis Paper Co., Champion International Paper Co. and Stimson Lumber Co. He returned to Eureka as part owner and manager of Lone Pine Timber Industries, and concluded his working years as owner of Big Sky Publications, which produced specialty publications, including Diners Club Menu Books and provided marketing services to the largest credit union in Montana and and a large medical clinic which focused on sleep apnea. 

He often provides free lance articles and serves on an international board dealing with contaminants in Lake Koocanusa. He also serves on the finance and audit committee for an international non-profit organization named Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER), which consists of legislators from five states, three Canadian provinces and two Canadian territories He is the only delegate in PNWER history to be elected as president for two terms.