Glitch, absentee votes slow results
Great Falls Tribune, June 8, 2006
By SONJA LEE, Tribune Staff Writer

With a boost in absentee votes, more Cascade County residents cast ballots in Tuesday's primary election than in previous ones, making results a bit tougher to tally, according to election officials.

About 33.5 percent or 16,433 of 48,977 registered voters took part in Tuesday's primary. Those numbers were largely driven by absentee ballots, said Debbie Mart, county elections supervisor.
 
The county handled about 3,400 absentee ballots, double the number of ballots cast early in Cascade County during the 2004 primary election.

In 2002, the last nonpresidential primary year, some 15,140 of 47,772 registered voters cast ballots in the primary, or 31.6 percent. That was up from 21 percent in 1998.

When ballots were being tallied early after the polls closed, election staff accidentally forgot to reset one of the counting machines. The error meant the second take of results was inaccurate, so election officials did not release them.

The office then decided to start the entire count over again.

While that error significantly slowed results, an influx of absentee ballots also meant returns lagged, Mart said.

The county promoted absentee options, particularly the opportunity to permanently vote absentee. Mart said the office is receiving between 400 and 500 requests per week.

The number of polling places was also reduced to meet federal accessibility standards. The Help America Vote Act set a 2006 deadline to get polling places up to par.

With nearly 21,000 voters visiting a new polling place, several opted to vote absentee, Mart said.

"This is growing by leaps and bounds," she said. "It's very popular, and that's great. We just have to figure out how to staff for it."

Secrecy envelopes, which enclose absentee ballots, can't be opened until election day. They also are folded and take additional time to feed into the counting machines.

Cascade County election staff started opening envelopes around 3 p.m. Tuesday. Envelopes would have been opened earlier, but staff had to find space to work in, in the courthouse annex.

The annex remained open for business Tuesday, and some candidates on the ballot currently work for the county. Election staff has to make sure the public, including candidates, can't mingle with the people opening ballots.

"It's not the ideal situation," Mart said. "We had to put a gate in front of the door and barricade the other entrance with a table and chairs."

Mart said absentee ballots will be opened earlier during November's general election. The county offices are closed that day, so Mart said officials will open envelopes as early as 8 a.m.

She also said the failure to reset the counting machine was no one person's fault. Election employees have worked 12-hour days for several weeks to prepare. She said the office is short one clerk, adding to the workload.

The county could hire additional, temporary staff for elections, Mart said. But it is tough to train temps, and she is concerned it adds to the risk for errors.

Mart said she is aware of a few voting problems. The new polling places, however, didn't appear to create a lot of issues.

She added one voter received the wrong ballot when voting absentee.

Dave Hickman said he voted absentee, but was given a ballot for the wrong precinct. He should have voted in the House District 26 race between Bill Thomas and Rod Lukasik, which was decided by four votes. Hickman said he was upset by the mistake and hoped it could be rectified.

Hickman should have brought up the problem earlier, Mart said early Wednesday.

Raylynn Lauderdale, outreach coordinator with the Montana Advocacy Program, said she is encouraged by Montana counties' efforts to improve the polls.

"We still have a long way to go to get to total compliance," she said.

Each polling place also was equipped with a new AutoMARK voting system. Voters had the option of using the new machines, which are available thanks to the Help America Vote Act.

Mart said she didn't know how many people used the system. Clerk and Recorder Peggy Carrico said most of the systems worked, although the AutoMark in Belt was shut down because of a programming problem.

Carrico also said the county did not have a lot of training on how to use the new machines.

Lauderdale said she hasn't received much feedback on the AutoMark systems. But some voters reported that election judges didn't know how to use them.

"But I think this was a great trial run," she said. "When the general election gets here, we should be running smoothly."

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Sonja Lee at slee@greatfal.gannett.com, or at (406) 791-1471 or (800) 438-6600.