ballots

An agreement approved on Tuesday will enable the Missoula County Elections Office to compose its own ballots ahead of an election and reduce the time-sensitive process by offering more control at the local level.

The two bills aim to bar inactive voters from being counted on petitions to qualify initiatives to be included on Montana ballots.

State and federal authorities are investigating a deliberately set fire that destroyed ballots inside a drop box in southwest Washington on Monday morning.

Montanans for Election Reform and Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, the two groups behind the three initiatives, had said last Friday they had already met the necessary number of signatures.

The Missoula County Elections Office last week gave a newly minted election law a dry run in anticipation of next year's sweeping federal election, when nearly every statewide race is up for grabs, along with the presidency.