New ballot requirements result in high number of rejections
Martin Kidston
*This story was updated at 3:15 p.m. with comments from the Secretary of State's office.
(Missoula Current) The Missoula County Elections Office has rejected an unusually high number of ballots due to their noncompliance with new state law, though the state says the issues are primarily in Missoula alone.
Elections Administrator Bradly Seaman on Tuesday said his office has rejected nearly 170 ballots thus far due to their lack of a signature or birth year – both of which are now required on the outside of the return envelope.
“It's significant. We've been referring to it as a ten-times increase,” Seaman said. “We'll contact voters and let them know they missed this. We've seen municipal races come down to a dead tie and we know every vote counts. We want to make sure voters are aware of it.”
However, in response to the county's concern, the Secretary of State's office said nearly 80% of the ballots rejected statewide due to missing or non-matching information “appear to be from Missoula County.”
“Missoula's high rejection rate during this election shouldn't be attributed to a new law, as it appears to be concentrated in Missoula County,” said Austin James, the Elections Director at the Secretary of State's office.
The Legislature this year passed HB 719, sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell, a Flathead County Republican. The measure revised a number of voting laws and deemed a ballot to be void and not countable if not properly signed.
In past elections, voters were required to sign their envelope, but the signature was hidden and visible only to election officials when they opened the ballot. Seaman said a number of voters have expressed concerns with the change.
“We direct a lot of that (complaints) to the bill's sponsor and the Secretary of State,” Seaman said. “We're working hard to let people know there's a change to this envelope, and to know that it's statewide and that it's required.”
Missoula County sent out roughly 77,000 ballots last week. This year's election includes the races for City Council and mayor, along with a proposed county levy for road maintenance funds.
Seaman said ballots are trickling in, but the rejection rate has been surprising.
“This brings Missoula County in line with the state of Montana. This is how voters statewide will be working on it,” Seaman said. “We did reach out to SOS to let them know we've had these rejection rates.”
While Missoula County believes HB 719 had few proponents outside the Secretary of State's office, the SOS said otherwise on Tuesday, quoting a number of other election administrators who praised the measure.