Commission nixes mail voting in split decision

Editor’s note: This version clarifies who would have received mail ballots and how provisional ballots are handled.

The Hill County Commission voted down a resolution to allow for mail-in ballots in the 2020 general election at their weekly business meeting Thursday, with Hill County Commissioners Diane McLean and Mark Peterson voting no and Hill County Commissioner Mike Wendland voting yes.

The resolution would have allowed the county to send ballots to provisional and active registered voters which they could fill out and return by mail as well as vote in person if they choose.

Absentee ballots will still be available.

Hill County Deputy Election Administrator Kaci Hipple said before the vote mail-in ballots are only sent to provisionally registered active voters, people who have submitted a registration application along with a verifiable ID and have kept their status current.

She said provisional ballots without identification are not counted until ID is provided by 8 p.m. Election Day, and most inactive voters are those who have moved and not notified their previous election office of their move.

“Voters need to take initiative and make sure their voter information is up to date,” Hipple said.

She said in-person voting is still allowed and could be done from Oct. 2 until election day with mail-in ballots sent out on Oct. 9, and under Gov. Steve Bullock’s recent directive people can register to vote up to 10 days before the election. She also said the

process for late registration would be the same as a normal election.

Hipple said the primary reason for the resolution was to ensure the health and safety of citizens as well as election judges and staff.

She said the primary in June, which used mail-in ballots,

was a resounding success that resulted in the highest-ever voter turnout for a Hill County primary.

She said she realizes that many in the public have concerns about the integrity of the election with mail-in ballots, but that concern is based on inaccurate information, much of which spreads through social media by people unfamiliar with Montana’s election laws.

“I have not seen any evidence that a mail-in ballot would be any more susceptible to fraud,” she said.

“I ask you to be careful of what you believe, ask questions instead of making assertions,” she added later in the meeting.

Hipple said ballots are tracked closely in a state database to prevent people from voting more than once,

that signatures are checked carefully when accepting ballots whether they’re mail-in or absentee.

She said that Hill County stood out as a place where the mail-in election was handled efficiently, with results coming back on election night, where it caused chaos and confusion elsewhere in the U.S.

She said she would not suggest a mail-in election if they thought there was potential for more fraud, and that the issue is taken seriously by herself and other election officials.

Hipple said moving to a mail-in ballot will significantly reduce the amount of people congregating at polling locations reducing the chances of people catching and spreading COVID-19.

She said this reduction would allow them to hire far fewer election judges, who had an average age of 69 in Hill County 2018 and would face increased danger from the virus and would make it easier to find locations for polling places.

Hipple said they’ve contacted pervious judges to see if they were willing to work amid the pandemic and only 25 said yes, far below the bare minimum that would be needed to run the election.

She also said training for the judges would normally be done by now, but the pandemic has delayed and the process would need to be redesigned and done in an extremely short amount of time.

Hipple also said allowing for mail-in voting would increase their efficiency, because they can use the time they would spend on absentee registration on actually processing ballots, which she saw firsthand during the primary.

She also said if the resolution is not passed they would need to consolidate polling locations so they wouldn’t have to hire as many election judges, which would require a space large enough to ensure social distancing.

She further said that because of the pandemic many places they would normally use, like Havre High School and Havre Middle School, are not available and finding new places will be very difficult.

Hipple said that, due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, there is the potential for last-minute chaos if there were to be an outbreak shortly before the election which would further exacerbate the problem of trying to find willing judges.

Local resident Bob Ingram told the commission he believes making these changes would only add to public confusion.

“Confusion is confusion is confusion,” he said.

Hipple and Hill County Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong said confusion is inevitable when changes are made, but not passing this resolution would cause more confusion with polling locations becoming more likely to be changed and less ways to vote being available.

Ingram said they had no facts or data to back up that claim.

Armstrong said their opinion is based on their previous experience with the primary as well as their general knowledge handling mail-in ballots for municipal and school board elections.

“I can say, for sure, that there will be less confusion,” she said.

Ingram and two other attendees at the meeting raised their concern that implementing a mail-in ballot election will set a precedent for generations and takes away people’s personal responsibilities to stay informed and vote.

“We the people have lost control… our generation is fighting for freedom please please, help us support that,” he said to the commissioners.

“Younger generations don’t want to take the responsibility and we need to stem that tide,” he added.

Hipple asked him if he wants to be an election judge for the election. Ingram said yes, but when she asked whether he’d wear a mask he said that was a complicating factor.

Ingram and attendee Charlotte Faust were not wearing masks at the meeting. Pam Harada, who also spoke against mail balloting, was wearing a mask.

Armstrong said the people handling the election in Hill County are competent and motivated and without adopting this resolution election organizers will be scrambling.

“We go above and beyond to make sure everything is secure and we’re not voting for all of Montana to do this, we’re voting for Hill County,” she said.

Peterson said he wanted more time for public comment on the issue and made a motion to table the matter until next week, but there was no second.

McLean, who did not wear a mask at the meeting, although all of the other county officials did, said the county should return to normal as soon as possible and she does not support a mail-in ballot for that reason.

“How long is this emergency an emergency?” she asked. “… How long are we going to drag this out? Maybe it has everything to do with this election.”

She said it’s easier for things to go wrong with a mail ballot election, and the response she has gotten from the community is that they don’t want mail-in ballots.

“The overwhelming response that I have gotten is that people do not trust this process,” she said.

She also agreed with Ingram that voting is being made too easy.

“We are making this so convenient,” she said, “I’ve been getting a mail ballot for a couple years and I’m almost ashamed of myself for taking the easy way out.”

She also said election judges cannot be required to wear masks under federal law.

Armstrong said it is a requirement for being a judge under the current circumstances.

Armstrong asked McLean why she wouldn’t support the mail-in vote this time even though she had in the primary.

McLean said they didn’t have a choice in the primary.

“Yes ma’am, you absolutely did,” Armstrong responded.

Peterson said he has always supported mail ballots, but he has to vote for what the people of the county want and based on the response he got he would vote against adopting the resolution.

He said he has received almost universally negative responses from people in the area regarding the prospect of a mail-in ballot with more than two dozen responses against the idea and only one in favor.

“If you sit in this chair you need to learn to vote against yourself,” he said.

After the vote Armstrong said he should vote for what he believes in instead.

“Mark, sometimes you have to go along with what you feel is right,” she said.

Armstrong said she was disappointed in the lack of integrity shown by the commission and their unwillingness to have the backs of their county employees who would be affected by this decision.

The commission also unanimously approved a resolution to establish stage 1 fire restrictions in Hill County applying to all public and private lands including Beaver Creek Park with the exception of fires inside fire rings for those camping on Bear Paw Lake starting today.

They also unanimously approved a new Collective bargaining Agreement between the Hill County Bridge and Road Department and the International Union of Operating Engineers effective July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2021.