(GREAT FALLS) If you showed up to the polls on Tuesday, you were not alone. In fact, you were one of nearly 490,000 Montanans to cast your vote in the 2018 midterm election.
Although many are thinking ahead to the next election season, the work for election 2018 is far from over.
Election officials worked over 40 hours at Montana ExpoPark, starting as early as 3:45 a.m. on Election Day.
Now, they must go page-by-page all by hand, approving day-of registered voters. Next, they will count provisional ballots which are those who moved precincts or counties.
And even after that, the Secretary of State will issue an audit that will choose two precincts to count ballots by hand. This is to make sure the machine is accurate.
That machine we are talking about? That’s the only machine Cascade County has to count ballots. It can count roughly 2,000 ballots in an hour, give or take a paper jam.
“It was a day that all parties want. They always want everybody to turn out. With big turn out that extends the rest of the process longer into the evening and into the morning,” Cascade County clerk and recorder Rina Moore said.
And long into the morning it went. The elections office was not done at Montana ExpoPark until 10 p.m. Wednesday night.
“We knew it was going to be a long day because of the double pages. We’ve technically have never counted that many pages of ballots before,” Moore said.
The Secretary of State’s office will officially approve the results in December.
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Here are the unofficial final results:
CASCADE COUNTY SHERIFF/CORONER:
Jesse Slaughter: 17,344 (53%)
Bob Rosipal: 15,510 (47%)
CASCADE COUNTY COMMISSIONER:
Jane Weber: 16,621 (50%)
Joshua Eli: 16,227 (49%)
TREASURER/SUPT OF SCHOOLS:
Diane C. Heikkila: 18,272
Mary Swenson: 13,547
STATE SENATOR DST 11:
Tom Jacobson: 4,696
Adam Rosendale: 3,457
STATE SENATOR DST 12:
Carlie Boland: 3,658
Steven Galloway: 3,458
STATE SENATOR DST 13:
Brian Hoven: 3,306
Kevin Vincent Leatherbarrow: 174
Bob Moretti: 2,722
STATE SENATOR DST 14:
Russel E Tempel: 458
Paul Tuss: 288
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 19:
Wendy McKamey: 3,193
Lynelle Melton: 1,237
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 20:
Fred Anderson: 3,815
Keaton Sunchild: 1,754
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 21:
Ed Buttrey: 2,423
Leesha Ford: 2,101
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 22:
Laura Dever: 1,864
Lola Sheldon-Galloway: 1,869
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 23:
Brad Hamlett: 1,836
William Smith: 1,514
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 24:
Barbara Bessette: 2,004
Mike “Mac” McNamara: 1,825
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 25:
Jasmine Krotkov: 1,898
Jeremy Trebas: 1,774
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 26:
Michael K. Cooper Sr.: 1,101
Casey Schreiner: 1,390
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 27:
Joshua J. Kassmier: 487
Dan Nelsen: 257
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DST 30:
E. Wylie Galt: 372
Kathryn G.H. Nicholes: 96
