County clerk reports ballots sent, key dates for May 6 election and municipal filings

Broadwater County Clerk and Recorder Andy Paulson provided an elections update at the April 23 meeting, reporting that 5,124 ballots were mailed April 17 and summarizing return rates and upcoming deadlines.

Paulson said 3,966 ballots were mailed to voters in Townsend School District No. 1 and 1,158 to the part of Broadwater served by Three Forks, for a total of 5,124 mailed ballots. As of the day before the meeting, the clerk’s office had received 230 returned ballots. “If you haven’t received your ballot by Friday, please stop by our office next week so we can just cancel out your old ballot and we will issue you a new one,” Paulson said, noting that in-person replacement is required.

Ballots are due to the clerk’s office no later than 8 p.m. on election day, Tuesday, May 6. Paulson also warned voters that the write-in line required by Montana Code Annotated appears on ballots but that there were no official write-in candidates for the Townsend trustee race; he said a hand-written name on the write-in line will not be counted as a valid vote unless that person is an official write-in candidate. Paulson also reviewed that the sheriff’s mill levy appears countywide on all ballots and that municipal candidate filing for the primary municipal election closes June 16; four council seats across wards will be on the municipal ballot.

Paulson encouraged voters who make an error on their ballot to come to the clerk’s office for a replacement and reiterated that late registration and certain registration updates require in-person visits during the late registration period.