Chouteau County to open Rocky Boy voting office

The Chippewa Cree Tribe has accepted an offer by Chouteau County to open a satellite voting office on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation once a week on a trial basis during the 27 days leading up to the state’s primary election.

Chouteau County Clerk and Recorder Lana Classen said Thursday that she received a message from the tribe last Tuesday agreeing to the offer made in a Feb. 10 letter from the county to Chippewa Cree Tribal Chair Ken St. Marks.

Under the arrangement the satellite office will provide early voting and in-person absentee voting services to residents who live in areas of the reservation in Chouteau County. The office would be open 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

No specific day or location has yet been chosen for the office. Classen said the county and tribe need to get together to discuss the schedule and location of such an office.

In her letter, Classen said the county is willing to hear recommendations from the tribe on where such an office should be located.

The offer from the county was in response to a Jan. 28 letter from the Chippewa Cree requesting a satellite office be set up in for those in the reservation’s Precinct 5.

Even though a voting rights assessment performed by Chouteau County determined such a satellite office was not needed, Classen said in her letter that the county would provide such an office on a trial basis.

Following the primary elections, the county and tribe “will evaluate the success of the office” based on utilization and location to decide on what changes if any should be made.

The Chippewa Cree have also requested Hill County establish and staff such an office once a week during that same period for those who live on the part of the reservation in Hill County.

As with Chouteau County, the tribe and Hill County have yet to agree on a schedule or facility.

Unlike with Hill County, which will have to close down its Clerk and Recorder's Office in Havre, Chouteau County will be able to provide such services simultaneously in the courthouse in Fort Benton and in the Rocky Boy office.

Though they are still working out details, Classen said she and a trained election judge would staff the satellite office on the four days it is open, while other members of her staff remain at the county's Clerk and Recorder’s Office in the courthouse in Fort Benton.

In her letter, Classen said that the satellite voting office could not be operated either on Monday, June 6, or the day of the primary election itself. However, she said, the Election Day voters can vote at their regular polling place at Stone Child College.