A Montana legislator has become the first Republican to vote against a citizen-only voting amendment in a floor vote.
Rep. Sherry Essmann (R-Boseman) cast her vote April 18 against Senate Bill 185. The House vote was 58-40 in favor of the measure, but the bill needed support of two-thirds of all legislators. It needed 67 votes in House to be put before voters in the 2026 general election.
Essmann did not return messages seeking comment on her vote.
“Citizen-only voting is a non-partisan issue,” said Jack Tomczak, vice president of Americans For Citizen Voting. “We are disappointed that there were so few Democrats who voted for it and completely flabbergasted that a Republican voted no. That has never happened before in any state.
“We will be sure to let Representative Essman’s constituents know where she stands on citizen-only voting.”
While the issue generally has bipartisan support among voters, it has nearly unanimous support among Republican lawmakers.