Alysha Goheen Jannotta and Matt Singer, Missoulian, January 20, 2009

As our legislators consider moving toward vote by mail, we urge them to take a good hard look at how exclusive mail ballot systems have worked in other states and how to handle those problems in advance. How will these reforms impact transient populations, like low-income Montanans and youth, that move frequently? How will it work on American Indian reservations where postal service is less accessible?

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Charles S. Johnson, Billings Gazette, January 15, 2009

Some of the groups advocated the establishment of more "safe drop" locations for voters to return ballots if they don't want to mail them or can't afford it. They proposed more safeguards for voters whose ballots are lost or never received.

"We believe these changes will result in a much smoother Election Day and strengthened trust in our democratic institutions," said Matt Singer of Forward Montana, which helped register several thousand first-time voters last year.

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John S. Adams, Great Falls Tribune,July 9, 2008

America's health care system is broken, and it's going to take a broad-based national coalition to rid Washington, D.C., of the apathy that has stymied past efforts to fix it, said former Montana Democratic Congressman Pat Williams.

[...]

"Already, Montanans for Health Care coalition groups have talked to thousands of Montanans who know that we need to fix our health care system," said Sean Morrison, a Helena native and University of Montana student. "The question now is whether we can build a system that will work as hard for Montanans as Montanans do every day for their own families."

Initial members of Montanans for Health Care include Forward Montana, Western Progress, Montana AFL-CIO, Missoula Area Central Labor Council, Big Sky Central Labor Council, SEIU 775 Northwest, Montana Human Rights Network, Montana Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence and Shalon Hastings, owner of Taco del Sol in Helena.

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Mike Dennison, Lee Newspapers, July 08, 2008

If America's broken health care system is going to be fixed, now is the time - and the solution can and must include coverage for all at affordable prices, a new reform coalition said Tuesday.

[...]

Sean Morrison of Forward Montana[...] told of a friend who had completed college with few student loan debts, but who had kidney failure while he took a semester off from school to work.

The friend was without health insurance at the time and rang up $19,000 in medical bills, and bill collectors are suing him to collect the money.

His "future was declared bankrupt before it began," Morrison said. "America's health care system has deprived us of our future. We're describing a system that works against young Americans who are willing and want to work for America."

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Michael Connery, The Nation,June 9, 2008

In the 2006 midterm elections, young voters chose Democrats over Republicans 60 - 38 percent, and three Democratic candidates in particular owe their election to young voters. In Montana, Jon Tester ran a very YouTube-centric campaign that made an effort to reach out to young voters. He was aided by the field work of Forward Montana, an efffective local youth organization...

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