Letter to the Editor - Vote on mail ballots

Dear Editor:

We just finished reading the Havre Daily News article concerning your votes on the decision not to provide general election mail ballots to the electorate of Hill County. First, we would like to say that we appreciate Commissioner Mike Wendland’s vote supporting the ballot mailing, it makes good sense. Secondly, we want to voice our dissatisfaction with the other two members of the commission who voted to have the election take place in a physical location at a time when we are dealing with a potentially life-threatening pandemic that is letting its presence be known here in Hill County. Your decisions appear to be based on arbitrary, psuedo-empirical evidence, disregard for scientific fact and lack of concern for the safety of your constituency.

According to what was written, the primary election that was conducted by mail was very successful and the clerk and recorder’s office supported the mail-in ballot resolution. Commissioner Mark Peterson said he has received almost universally negative responses from people in the area about a mail-in ballot. We question that he used due diligence and did an adequate survey because if he had, we think it would provide a different determination. Now is not the time to cut corners on finding the truth and it certainly is not the time to depend on anything other than credible, professional/scientific-based information.

Sincerely,

Bruce and Jean Patera

Havre