Election season underway in county

The Sanders County Elections Office is busy preparing for the 2019 election season. Election day for special district and school boards throughout Sanders County will be May 7, while the primary general election for municipal races is set for Sept. 10 and the general election for Nov. 5.

The filing period for special district elections (fire, hospital and park districts) ended February 11. Bobbi Christenson with the Sanders County Elections Office said that the deadline for write-in candidates is March 4. If races are unopposed, the county can choose to cancel those special elections, and will do so after the write-in deadline has passed.

Elections for school board members will be May 7. The deadline to file for open positions is March 28.

Regular voter registration closes April 8 for both the special district and school board elections. Beginning April 9, voters will have to go to the election office at the Sanders County Courthouse to register in person and receive a ballot for the election.

Municipal elections for city council positions in Hot Springs, Plains and Thompson Falls will be held this year, with the primary set for Sept. 10 and the General Election on Nov. 5. Filing period for municipal positions will be April 18 through June 17.

In Hot Springs, two positions are open on the city council. The positions are four-year terms. On the Plains City Council, three four-year terms are up for election. The seats are Ward 1, Seat 1; Ward 2, Seat 1; and Ward 3, Seat 1. Thompson Falls City Council also has three members up for election. The four-year positions in Ward 1, Seat 1; Ward 2, Seat 1 and Ward 3, Seat 1 will be elected this year.

Seven rural fire districts in Sanders County have positions up for election this year. In Dixon, Doug King was the only person to file for a 3-year term, for which the district has two open. Ken Mattheisen filed in Plains/Paradise, which also has two positions open. Teresa Phillips of Thompson Falls was the sole person to file for the Thompson Falls Rural Fire District position, and in Trout Creek, Johnny J. “JJ” Goodman was the only person to file in the district, which has two positions open. At the Hot Springs Rural Fire District, Lando Bras filed for the two-year position, and Charles D. “Dale” Neiman filed to retain a three-year position. In Noxon, Teri Wilkinson and Joel King filed for three-year positions, of which two are available. Jerry Overman was the only person to file for the one-year term open on the Heron Rural Fire District, while Timothy Lindeman and Christine Knodle both filed for the two open three-year terms.

One person, Carolyn Carter, filed for the four-year open position on the Noxon Heron Public Hospital District board, and both Debra Pier and Laurence Walchuck have filed for the three-year position with the Eastern Sanders County Hospital District, for which two are open.

In Sanders County schools, positions are open in Dixon, Hot Springs, Noxon, Plains, Thompson Falls and Trout Creek. All of the school board terms are three-year positions. Noxon has four positions up for grabs, include two three-year positions for Noxon trustees, one three-year position for a Trout Creek trustee and a two-year position for a Trout Creek trustee. The Thompson Falls, Plains and Trout Creek school districts each have one three-year position up for election, while Hot Springs has a three-year position and a one-year position open. The only individual to file for the school board elections as of Tuesday was John Holland in Plains, the current board chair. The filing deadline for the school board candidates is March 28.

No water and sewer districts have elections in 2019, and the Sanders County Elections Office reported that as of Tuesday, no one had filed for a four-year open position on the Trout Creek Park Board. Voters are reminded that close of voter registration is Aug. 12, as ballots will be mailed for the primary election the last week of August.

For more information on county elections, go to co.sanders.mt.us, click on Departments and then Elections.