Lincoln County weathers another election mishap

A proofing error has resulted in absentee voters in Eureka receiving new ballots ahead of the Nov. 7 election.

On Lincoln County’s elections home page, a note titled, “Attention Town of Eureka Voters” was posted alerting those receiving absentee ballots that it was incorrect.

“It has come to our attention that the Eureka Town Council Absentee Ballot is incorrect. We are issuing new absentee ballots next week to replace all current absentee ballots that were mailed with the white secrecy envelopes and dark gray print.

“The new Eureka absentee ballots will be arriving with purple secrecy envelopes. These are the corrected ballots that should be the ballots used and the ballots counted for this election,” the statement reads.

According to a story in the Tobacco Valley News, nearly 400 absentee voters were sent ballots instructing them to choose one candidate for Eureka City Council. But there are two open seats. County Election Administrator Melanie Howell confirmed to the Tobacco Valley News the mistake happened within the Elections Department during the proofing process. She said her department received the correct information from Eureka and the printer was not responsible for the error.

Howell told The Western News on Thursday morning that new ballots arrived and were mailed out this week.

Howell said voters who had returned an incorrect absentee ballot, with a white security envelope, will need to vote again on the correct ballot that is accompanied by a purple security envelope.

“Ballots with the purple envelope are the only ones that count,” Howell said. “The incorrect ballots have been voided.”

Because of the short turnaround time, Howell also recommended that voters in the Eureka area take their completed ballots to the county dispatch office and put them in the drop box rather than mail them to Libby, the county seat.

Absentee voters may also return their ballots on Election Day, Nov. 7, to the polling place at the High Road Youth Center.

Ballots mailed for the Eureka Middle School bond election and the county marijuana tax election are not affected. Eureka voters registered as absentee voters and who plan to vote in person on Nov. 7 are also not affected.

The mistake with the ballot for the Eureka City Council isn't the only misstep by county election officials. The Lincoln County Elections Department homepage last week advertised that late registration may only be done at the Election Office at 418 Mineral Ave. Floor B in Libby up to the day before the election at noon, which is Monday, Nov. 6.

But, according to the Montana Secretary of State, the late registration provision will not be enforced and registrations before the close of polls on Election Day will be processed.

The county website was corrected late Thursday afternoon to indicate later voter registration could be completed on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Ballot mistakes, uncounted ballots and a succession of new election administrators have plagued the county Election Department and caused critics to question the legitimacy of the process.

Since 2016, county elections have seen mistakes that Commissioner Josh Letcher previously deemed “major human errors.”

In 2016, a tabulator was not properly programmed for different arrangements on ballots from different precincts.

In 2020, a bad fold in ballots that created a bad reading in the tabulator machine, Letcher said. 

According to reporting in The Western News, the second incident in 2020 included a ballot box that was left temporarily unaccounted for in the North Lincoln County Annex in Eureka for three days after the November election. County officials recovered the ballots and tabulated them within the timeframe allowed by the state. Officials said the ballots were never at risk of being tampered with.

The last one occurred in June 2022 when a ballot printing mistake resulted in county election officials hand counting all ballots for all races.

At Wednesday’s county commissioner meeting, D.C. Orr, a candidate for Libby City Council, said he was in the county Annex building, where the Election Department is located, earlier that day when he saw a man carrying a open-top tote container with ballots.

Orr said he questioned Howell if that was an appropriate way to transport ballots. According to Orr, Howell said the container held returns, but then said it also included ballots.

County Clerk and Recorder Corinna Brown said she walked with the man while he carried the tote.

Commissioner Brent Teske said the totes were how the ballots come from the post office.

Orr wanted Teske to declare the election was secure.

Teske said he’d look into it. When Orr pressed further about the transport of ballots, Teske said he’d have to check with the Montana Secretary of State.

Howell is the fourth person to hold the Election Administrator title since 2020. Paula Buff was on the job from 2021 to 2023. Before her, Chris Nelson served from August 2020 to November 2020. He resigned following the general election that year.

Nelson replaced long-time election administrator Leigh Riggleman, who resigned in 2020 while county commissioners wrangled over having an all mail-in election, meant to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, or a traditional poll election.

Buff resigned along with her assistant Amanda Eckart, and Clerk and Recorder Robin Benson at the end of March.

Benson shared her resignation letter with The Western News at the time.

In it, Benson wrote that, “There is zero respect or even common courtesy from commissioners to county election employees or myself. My job has never been political, both on the Clerk and Recorder side and especially elections. Now, politics is being shoved down my throat and I refuse to comply with someone else’s world view.”

Benson also asserted that election staff were fearful of attending commissioner meetings.

“They can no longer do their jobs,” Benson wrote. “There is zero support from the commissioners. Both Paula Buff and Amanda Eckart are leaving their positions under severe duress and anxiety.”