Letter to the Editor - Protect our rights in November

Editor,

What do you picture when you think of Montana? Is it the huge swaths of hikeable nature? Our varied individual liberties? The nation’s best fishing and hunting? Or is it privacy from the chaos and prying of more populated states like California? Fifty years ago, Montanans decided that these things were important enough to our culture to be enshrined as rights within the state Constitution. The product was the creation of the greatest constitution in the nation; one chock-full of rights that average Montanans see the fruits of each and every day.

Although our constitution continues to receive widespread support in our state, it is now in grave danger. Out-of-state corporate special interests and out-of-touch politicians are trying to change our constitution and remove our rights against the wishes of regular citizens. If we elect a legislature that stands for its own self-interest instead of Montana’s, the features of Montana that we love may slip away.

If we truly love our state, how can we stand for the destruction of our constitution? When casting your vote this November, I implore you to consider what makes our state great. Vote to protect your own rights, and vote to protect Montana.

Georgia Balius

Missoula