Dems file suit over GOP voter challenges

HELENA - Two registered Montana voters and the Montana Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit this morning seeking to stop state Republicans from challenging the legitimacy of registered voters who have recently changed their addresses. Joseph Breitenbach and Cynthia Anne Greene, both of Missoula, along with the state Democratic party contend the Montana Republican Party’s voter challenge is an effort to suppress voter turnout immediately before a close election, said Caleb Weaver, a Montana spokesman for the Barack Obama presidential campaign, which is helping with the challenge. “These challenges are a transparent and very likely unsuccessful attempt” to discourage properly registered voters from turning up on Election Day, Weaver told a group of Montana reporters in a conference call this morning. Specifically, the Montana Republican Party is challenging the addresses of some 6,000 registered Montana voters who have moved since they last registered to vote. The challenges were in six heavily Democratic counties: Missoula, Lewis and Clark, Silver Bow, Deer Lodge, Glacier and Hill.