Ballots coming in for school seats

Ballots are being turned in for school board races throughout the county, with May 4 as election day.

The Sanders County Elections Office reports that dozens of ballots have been returned as undeliverable. “If you have not received your ballot, please call us,” said Bobbi Christenson, Election Deputy for the county. The elections office had received more than 450 ballots returned in the mail. Ballots are most often returned because voters have not updated their mailing address. Voters can visit the office at the Sanders County Courthouse or call 827-6949 or 827-6929 to update their information.

Residents can register to vote for the school board election until noon Monday, May 3.

Ballots can be mailed or dropped off at the courthouse but must be in the election office prior to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, when the polls close. “Postmarks do not count, so if you are mailing your ballot, please mail it early enough to ensure it will reach us in time,” Christenson said.

As of Tuesday morning, 1,589 voters had cast their ballots. The county mailed 8,444 for the election. In the Noxon School District, 453 ballots had been turned in, with 1890 being mailed and 99 being returned to the county as undeliverable. Plains School District had the highest rate of cast ballots as of Tuesday, with 717 completed ballots turned in of the 2,623 mailed. In Thompson Falls, less than 7% of ballots had been returned as of Tuesday, with 196 of the 2,967 ballots accepted by the county staff. Trout Creek Elementary voters had cast 223 of the 964 ballots mailed, just under 25%.

Voters are also reminded to read instructions on their ballot. In many of the races, Christenson stated, voters are instructed to choose two candidates, but some voters may overlook that detail.

Christenson said some of the election laws have recently changed, so encourages voters to call the office if they have any questions.

Voters in Noxon, Plains, Thompson Falls and Trout Creek are choosing school board members this spring. The Ledger on April 8 ran profiles of candidates. Those are available at scledger.net.