County plans primary by mail ballot

Sanders County is working to conduct the June 2 primary election by mail. Last week, Governor Steve Bullock issued a directive giving counties the option of holding a mail-in election for the primary. Sanders County Clerk & Recorder/Treasurer Nichol Scribner, who also serves as the county Election Administrator, said the commissioners last week wrote a letter in support of the mail-in ballot primary election, and the plan for Sanders County is being submitted to the secretary of state’s office for approval.

“This is not for every election, just the primary,” Scribner said. She added that the county is working to put drop box sites in each community. “Those will be manned. Voters can take their ballots and drop it off at the site in their community and the ballots will be delivered to the courthouse and be checked in each day.”

The county also has changed the Sanders County Bookmobile dropbox outside the courthouse into a dropbox for all of the county offices. The box is located near the front door of the courthouse, and residents can drop absentee voting forms, tax payments, vehicle registration renewals or any other payments or paperwork for the courthouse into that box. Scribner said people just need to be sure to clearly mark for which office the paperwork or payment is.

On the day of the primary election, June 2, ballot boxes will be placed at each polling location in the county. “That’s where people are used to going,” Scribner said. Reserve deputies with the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office will be running the ballots back to the courthouse for tallying on election day, as they normally do. No postage will be required to mail the ballots for the primary.

Scribner said another challenge for the county is having election judges trained for the mail-in election. She said the county struggles to find enough judges as it is, and that about 80% of the county’s judges are over the age of 70. Now the challenge becomes counting the county’s ballots efficiently at one central location.

“We’re trying to mitigate as much as possible,” Scribner said.

The county is used to mail-in ballots, as the school board elections, set for May 5, is already held through the mail. Ballots for the local school elections will be mailed April 15. The end of regular registration for the school elections will be April 27. Scribner said the voter registration form is available on the county website, co.sanders.mt.us, and can be scanned and emailed or mailed to the local office.

In order to receive a ballot by mail, Scribner said it’s important for voter’s information to be current. Montana voters can verify their information by going to app.mt.gov/voterinfo or calling the county Elections Office at 827-6949. Ballots for the primary will be mailed by May 8.