Commission hears request for post-election mail-in ballot report

Editor’s note: This version corrects attribution for a comment about caretakers at care centers filling out residents’ ballots to Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson.

At its weekly business meeting Thursday, the Hill County Commission heard a request from Havre resident Pam Harada that the county’s election officials produce a post-election report on mail-in voting.

Harada, who attended both meetings where mail-in ballots were discussed and spoke against the idea of allowing them in Hill County, said the commission should request a report from election officials to be submitted to them no more than 45 days after the 2020 election containing information primarily about ballots being deemed undeliverable.

Harada said Hill County Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong gave her the final number of ballots deemed undeliverable in the primary, but didn’t have the number of ballots that were initially deemed so before eventually being sent to their intended recipients.

She also asked that the report include keeping track of ballots deemed undeliverable even after being sent to an updated address.

Harada also asked how many ballots are sent out of the county or out of state to people who recently moved but haven’t updated their voter registration.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean said she doesn’t think Hill County sends ballots to such people, but said she would ask Armstrong, the county’s top election official.

Harada said one of the reasons she is asking for this information is because state legislators are looking to make vote-by-mail elections a permanent fixture in Montana even after the pandemic and data should be available for people when considering whether or not to support that idea.

She said she wasn’t overly concerned that Hill County would see too much trouble and was more concerned with larger cities in Montana.

“I can’t imagine what is happening in Billings, Missoula, Bozeman,” she said.

Hill County Commissioner Mike Wendland said most of the kind of data Harada was asking for is reported to the commission in one way or another, but he would be happy to pass on her the request on to the election officials in Hill County.

Armstrong joined the meeting later and offered to address Harada’s concerns personally and give her similar data on the primary.

She said one of Harada’s requests, that the county cross-reference undeliverable ballots between the general election with the primary to see how many addresses were deemed undeliverable twice in a row, would be difficult because of how the data in their system was set up.

Harada also asked the commission that they make clearer in the future if they are going to hold votes later in the day after public discussion of an issue.

After originally voting against a mail ballot election for the county on Aug. 13, the commission hosted further discussion of the matter at the next weeks meeting on Aug. 20 at 11 a.m. Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said that no vote would be taken at that time. But at 2:20 p.m. that day the meeting was resumed, and the commission voted again to allow mail-in ballots with Peterson voting yes instead of no as he did in the previous week.

Harada also made a personal comment on mail-in voting and said she was concerned that voter intimidation at home is far greater than it is during an in-person election.

She said she’s concerned that caretakers will pressure elderly voters into voting the way their caretakers want them to.

She said she’s seen situations like this in nursing homes.

Peterson added that caretakers could fill out ballots for residents dishonestly.

After the meeting, Armstrong said as of Wednesday night, 101 ballots in Hill County have been cast in the 2020 election.

During the meeting the commissioners also briefly discussed the Hill County Detention Center control panel remodeling project.

Wendland said the commission has received a proposal for the project and Hill County Building Manager Daryl Anez recently met with a second vendor so a second proposal may also be made soon.

Wendland also said Anez has been in talks with KONE Corp. to see what they can do to fix the Hill County Courthouse’s elevator, which has been out of service.

Peterson said the tentative date for KONE’s availability is the week of Oct 19.

He said the elevator’s motor has been delivered.