Judge blasts GOP voter registration challenges

HELENA - U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued a scathing order Wednesday lambasting the Montana Republican Party for challenging the registrations of thousands of Montana voters, but stopped short of an actual ruling in the case.

... “The timing of these challenges is so transparent that it defies common sense to believe the purpose is anything but political chicanery,” Molloy wrote.

... Although the state GOP has since withdrawn all of its voter challenges and vigorously denied that they were politically motivated, Art Noonan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, told reporters Wednesday he was pressing forward with the lawsuit.

“I'm a Butte boy,” he said. “They taught us a long time ago that if you want to stop bullying on the playground, you stand up to the bully.”