GREAT FALLS — Concerned and content Cascade County voters gathered at the Montana Expo Park in Great Falls to witness an election machine test demonstration.
Around 75 voters gathered resulting in commotion which ended the demonstration early.
“Why do we have to call KRTV for answers,” yelled a woman in the crowd. On the other side of the room, others voiced their concerns in response.
An event that was proven successful, as Cascade County Clerk & Recorder Sandra Merchant demonstrated and answered questions from the public about the School Board Trustee ballots which were mailed out last Tuesday.
Merchant walked through the process which was a stack of 255 test ballots issued by the company that makes the machine.
Those ballots were counted, and test results were printed for the public to view.
From there, questions were brought up from the crowd about how the ballots were folded. Merchant was prepared to show that the way the ballots were folded had no effect on the outcome.
Due to the prior test run, Merchant did not clear the previous test tally. She ran the test again once it was cleared to ensure it was running smoothly.
The Elections team members tested the machine that is available to those with disabilities, and it was running correctly as well.
Merchant adjourned the demonstration and took questions from the public.
One gentleman, who did not identify himself, asked how Merchant and the Election team would handle thousands of folded ballots.
She responded stating the team would start a day in advance of Election Day and break the grain of the paper to ensure the ballots were to run flat through the ticker.
Other concerns were expressed about precincts and whether the machine can take pictures of each ballot and if the machine is connected to WiFi.
The machine is not connected to WiFi and it can be adjusted to precinct and to take photos of the ballots.
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MTN News ask the question about “Write-in” spaces that were left off the ballot.
In MTN’s research, we called the Cascade County Elections Office where we were instructed on the phone if a person chose to write in a candidate, to cross out a name in the prescribed areas, fill in the bubble, and write in the candidate you wish to vote for.
Merchant did not comment on if that’s what her office told MTN News.
She did say, “They can write whatever they want on their ballots. They have that option, but it will invalidate it, it’s like an overvote.”
She then called on a man in the audience who is former Secretary of State, Brad Johnson.
Johnson made the drive from Helena to view the process and was not expecting to be called upon during the live election test.
He addressed the concerns of the write-in sections sharing that in Elections he managed at the state level was able to have write-in sections on ballots regardless of if someone had pre-filed as a write-in.
He could not speak to how OPI handles its elections, that was not his area.
Following comments from Johnson, another woman who identified as an election judge stepped into the former Secretary of State’s defense, and it turned into commotion rather than civil discourse.
From that point on, the demonstration was over. Merchant and her team began packing up their belongings.
After the commotion settled, MTN News was able to talk with Johnson about Merchant’s communication with the public.
“Identify the questions that are prevalent out there and then provide truly transparent and comprehensive responses to those questions. Whether or not the answer is what the folks raising the questions want to hear. We've got to determine and provide those answers. It's critically important to the process.” Johnson stated.
Following the demonstration, MTN News asked Sandra Merchant for an on-camera interview, and she declined.
While this was a step in the right direction to answer the questions of the public for Merchant’s administration, voter concern is high and the integrity of the process continues to be challenged.
“When folks start to lose their confidence in the outcome of the process, that's the greatest threat to our political system. We can run a perfect election, and if people have serious questions about the outcome, we've still lost the battle,” explained Johnson.
Former Secretary of State Brad Johnson also told MTN News that when he was in office, he made frequent attempts off the record to speak with the media and create trust and understanding between the two.
We will continue to contact Merchant ahead of the upcoming elections.
The School Board Trustee Election is Tuesday, May 2nd.
For any other questions regarding voter information or ballot concerns call the Cascade County Elections Office at 406-454-6803 or the Montana Secretary of State’s Office at 406-444-2034.
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