Bullock issues directive allowing counties to use mail-in ballots for the general election

Gov. Steve Bullock announced a new directive Thursday allowing counties to allow mail-in voting for the 2020 general election based on a modified model of the system used in the primary in June.

Bullock said this directive comes at the request of the Montana Association of Clerks and Recorders, who have expressed numerous concerns about holding a normal general election amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am in agreement in with our election administrators … that we must protect Montanans’ right to vote while also maintaining public health,” Bullock said.

Bullock, a Democrat, cannot run for re-election due to term limits and is running for the U.S. Senate, facing incumbent Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Wendie Fredrickson, who is running as a Green Party candidate although the Green Party told the Havre Daily News they have no affiliation with her or the PAC supporting her.

Bullock said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also advised that in-person elections pose a risk for public health. Bullock said this is especially true for election workers, many of whom are more than 60 years old.

Hill County Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong has expressed concerns about running a traditional poll election amid the pandemic at a county official meeting in July.

“We’ve already had numerous judges say they would not work if it was a poll election, so we’re open for another mail ballot,” she said during that meeting.

Armstrong said in an interview shortly after Bullock’s press conference that the Hill County Commission will have the final say whether the county will take advantage of this directive, but that she is putting together a proposal for them to approve.

Bullock said election administrators in Montana have advised him that not allowing an alternative to in-person voting under these circumstances might be a violation of the citizens right to vote.

“Election administrators stress that there are serious ethical concerns about conducting an election under standard procedures,” he said, “forcing election workers and voters alike, many of whom are in high risk populations, to choose between safety and their right to vote.”

Bullock said, because it’s increasingly unlikely that the pandemic will have abated before November, this is the right thing to do, especially because clerks and recorders in Montana have found, by and large, that the June primary was a streamlined, safe, and successful process.

However, he said, in-person voting is still permitted under this directive and that he’s confident local officials have the best idea of the needs of their communities that will allow them to make this choice.

Bullock said the directive does make some changes from the June primary based on feedback received from election workers and officials during that time.

He said the directive provides expanded timelines for voter registration, ballot distribution and early voting opportunities.

Under this directive registration will be available until 10 days prior to election day, and counties will be able to make ballots available from Oct. 2 to the end of the election.

He said those mail-in ballots will be sent Oct. 9 with no postage stamp required to return them.

When asked during the question and answer section after the conference Bullock said he hasn’t heard any concerns regarding postal service rollbacks or cut that will affect the mail-in process in Montana.

He also said the directive strongly encourages local officials to publicize early voting to their communities so more people know they can take advantage of it.

Bullock also provided an update on COVID-19 testing in the state, which he said, is as important as ever especially as July has been such a worrying month in terms of cases and deaths in Montana.

He said the backlog of test experienced by Quest Diagnostics has been worked through, with 20,000 tests having been processed in the last week of July, thousands of which were two or three weeks old.

Bullock said the overwhelming majority of cases reflected in the daily COVID-19 updates represent tests that are no more than two or three days old.

He also said more than 10,000 tests have been sent to Mako Medical Laboratory which is averaging a turnaround of two or three days.

“Thus far, we are really pleased with the North Carolina lab,” he said.

Bullock also said Montana State University is almost done with its validation process, which will ensure accuracy and their lab will start being able to process tests any day now.

With the backlog eliminated and more testing labs becoming available, Bullock said, the state is ready to slowly ramp back up local surveillance testing, and announced that Park County would have an event Sunday and Madison County would have one next Wednesday.

He said the nine counties previously considered hot spots were Flathead, Yellowstone, Missoula, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Cascade, Madison, Gallatin and Bighorn, with 50 of more active cases, have yet to lose that designation and they contain 80 percent of the cases reported in June and July.

Bullock said the state has been in contact with local public health officials from those counties to come up with new ideas to limit the spread.

He said most of the local health officials he’s talked to are not looking to put more restrictions in place but have encountered trouble getting people to follow the ones already in effect.

“It’s not about new restrictions, it’s about getting people to follow the rules that are already in place,” he said paraphrasing the officials he’s spoken with.

Bullock said an especially common and concerning issue he’s heard from local health officials is that some Montanans are not taking quarantine or isolation orders seriously, particularly younger people who make up a majority of the newest crop of cases.

“I understand that quarantining and especially isolating can be very difficult, and I thank those Montanans who’ve taken that challenge with grace and protecting those around them,” he said, “We know that quarantining is one of the most effective tools we have against this disease, but it’s only effective if those who are sick of exposed are staying away from others. Our local public health directors wouldn’t ask you to take this step unless it were necessary for the health of your family and your neighbors.”

State Medical Officer Greg Holzman said they don’t have exact numbers, but that they have found cases where people, often of the younger generation ignore quarantine and more cases are later found through contact tracing.

Bullock said Montanans should continue to social distance and use proper hand hygiene, and that a health economy requires healthy people to function.

“Early on when Montanans were taking this so seriously we flattened the curve,” he said, “If we again make sure to take it seriously we can do it again while maintaining somewhat of a normalcy that’s certainly better than another stay-at-home order or businesses being closed down.”

He urged citizens of all ages to listen to local public health and follow the guidelines they set out and that doing so will be vital with schools opening in three weeks.

“We have to recognize that if there is significant community spread, it doesn’t matter what schools do to keep teachers, students and staff safe,” he said. “No one wants to see our schools close, but that’s not just on the schools, it’s on all of us. … The likelihood of student’s receiving in-class instruction is really dependent on the actions we all take in the next few weeks.”

Bullock also provided some information on Montana University System’s plans for re-opening before turning the microphone over to Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian.

Bullock said up to $20 million in CARES Act funding will be provided to universities in order to keep students on campus safe and reduce spread of the virus.

“The ability of our Montana students to continue their education this fall is critical to our state’s future,” he said, “but we also have to make sure that we are doing so safely and with a comprehensive testing strategy.”

Christian said the plan being implemented was created based on information from top state and local health experts and officials as well as national level voices in the field, and uses strategies to keep individual cases from turning into clusters, and to keep clusters from turning into outbreaks.

He said most of the funding from the CARES Act will go toward this.

Christian said the plan is laser-focused on rapid testing for symptomatic individuals and contact tracing thereafter, but the plan will require support and cooperation with local public health.

He said the university will provide staff and support to help them with contact tracing, quarantine housing and getting test data back as soon as possible.

He said he’s been asked frequently why the universities doesn’t just test everyone coming back and he said he’s been informed by medical professionals that this not the most effective use of the resources the school has.

Christian said he’s been told that a single test for all students will have questionable effectiveness in the long-term, mainly because it would only provide data for a single point in time through the whole semester and would require a tremendous amount of resources to conduct.

He said health experts have advised a more strategic approach involving the testing of symptomatic people followed by contact tracing.

He said there isn’t enough on-campus housing to isolate everyone from the start of the semester, but they have designated housing set aside for those who end up being symptomatic and need to isolate.

Christian also said the plan identifies high-vulnerability groups who will be tested even without symptoms, including student workers and student with club activities that necessitate close contact with others, as well as those already in high-risk populations like the immuno-suppressed.

He said the plan also includes targeted sentinel testing, but there are no numbers on how many tests the school aims perform day to day, a number he said would likely be something of a moving target.

However, he said MSU’s lab is prepared to meet whatever need arises.

“We’re prepared to run the MSU lab around the clock if needed,” he said.

Bullock said the MSU lab has an expected turn around of two to three days for tests, an average that he said he hopes to maintain for all tests in the state.

Christian said testing is only part of the plan, and much will depend on the student’s actions.

He said the university system is asking students to use social distancing, wash their hands thoroughly and wearing masks in class and other appropriate environments, as well as avoid large gatherings, and that the school is working hard to make sure every student is educated in what they need to do before returning to school.

“If our goal is to continue the on-campus experience that we all want and cherish then we all need to make safe behavior our personal responsibility.”

Christian said students will be expected to follow these rules off campus as well and that is a message that will be reinforced throughout the semester.

“We absolutely expect students to follow the guidelines, and I believe that is the only way we can have a safe return this fall.”

When asked if the universities had plans in place for paid leave or missed work accommodations for students and staff who miss time on campus due to COVID-19, Christian said, remote learning opportunities will be available to students who need to be quarantined or are not comfortable attending class.

He said the university system is working with the staff unions to work out an arrangement for those in similar situations, but Christian said, he wanted to stress that people should not come to work or class if they are sick.

“In no way should student faculty or staff come to work if they are symptomatic,” he said.