State Supreme Court Stays Ballot Deadline Ruling
Votes Should Be Mailed By October 26
The Montana Supreme Court has stayed a lower court’s order requiring any ballot with an Election Day postmark to be counted.
Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton had argued that the shift away from counting only ballots election officials receive by Nov. 3 would cause confusion. For 35 years, Montana law has required that ballots be in the election official’s possession by the time polls closed.
“Having reviewed the District Court’s order, the Court agrees with the Secretary that the injunction disrupts the status quo, is likely to cause voter confusion, and interferes with the ability of the State to administer an orderly general election process already underway,” the seven justices concluded.
Yellowstone County District Judge Donald Harris ruled Sept. 25 that ballots in the mail by Election Day should be counted regardless of whether elections officials received the ballot when polls closed. A similar ruling concerning postmarked ballots in Montana’s June primary election was also rejected by the Montana Supreme Court for the same reason.
Additionally, the secretary of state has informed the Supreme Court he intends to appeal both the postmark ruling and a ruling removing the state limits on how many ballots one person can deliver to the elections office on behalf of others. However, Stapleton isn’t asking that the lower court’s collection ruling on ballot gathering be stayed.
The safe bet is to plan on mailing ballots not later than 7 days before the Nov. 3 general election, said the Brett Rutherford, Yellowstone County Elections officer. The United States Postal Service doesn’t guarantee delivery by Election Day of ballots mailed with less than a week to spare, the same terms USPS used for the June primary.
“If you still don’t trust the Postal Service, you can drop off your ballot at the Metra,” Rutherford said.
Other reasons for getting a ballot returned early are numerous. They include election workers concerns about handling freshly licked ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic. For safety reasons whenever possible ballots were allowed to sit for a couple days during the spring primary before being handled by election staff Rutherford said.
People are still getting used to pandemic safety precautions. It wasn’t unusual for a voter to lick their election ballot shut at the counter of the elections office and submit the envelope wet.
In counties that settled on all-mail ballot elections, early voting starts Friday. A person with valid identification can go to their polling area, request a ballot and vote on the spot. Doing so with nullify the ballot that in-person voter receives in the mail.
In Montana, it’s important to remember that mail ballots be submitted in a signed signature envelope so election officials can compare the signature to the one on record for that voter. Ballots submitted without a signed envelope don’t count.
