Gallatin County canvass certifies special‑district elections, orders two new districts created

Gallatin County’s canvassing board on May 19 certified results from multiple special‑purpose district elections, accepted the election administrator’s reconciliation of ballots and voter rolls, and adopted resolutions creating two new local districts.

The certification packet presented by Election Administrator Jasmine (Elections Office) showed 25,037 ballots accepted for count and 25,035 counted, a two‑ballot overall discrepancy that office staff investigated and the board accepted as non‑material. The board also certified election results for the Big Sky Resort Area District measures, the Firelight Meadows County Water and Sewer District creation, and the Hebgen Basin Rural Resort Area creation, and approved acclamations for multiple local fire district and water/sewer candidates.

Why it matters: the canvass completes the legal verification step that makes election results official and, in the two creation votes that met statutory thresholds, allows county staff to file formation paperwork with the Secretary of State. The board’s acceptance of the reconciliation and the subsequent commission resolutions move the new districts from ballot outcome to formal organization.

Election administrator’s overview and roll maintenance Jasmine explained how the May shared election included 10 school districts and three special‑purpose district elections, requiring 20 ballot styles because several districts extend into Broadwater, Jefferson and Madison counties. She told the board that out‑of‑county and landowner ballot requests required manual tracking because those voters are not registered in Gallatin’s statewide voter database.

Jasmine described the county’s National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) maintenance process: “And, we’ll send them 1 notice. 30 days later, we’ll send them another notice. And 30 days after the if they don’t respond, they become inactive.” She said the county sent 7,143 first notices and 6,634 second notices, inactivated 6,272 voters and canceled 6,468 who missed two federal elections. The NVRA process was presented as a cost‑saving measure because undeliverable ballots generate returned‑mail charges; the office reported 3,685 undeliverable ballots for this cycle.

Turnout, returns and reconciliation The packet showed 91,413 registered voters when including out‑of‑county residents served for school or special‑purpose elections, and 89,366 registered voters within Gallatin County alone. Election‑wide return rate (ballots received versus ballots issued) was presented as about 33 percent; overall turnout including inactive registrants was presented as about 27 percent.

Jasmine and staff reviewed the reconciliation workflow used to match ballots issued, returned, accepted, rejected and tabulated. The county reported 25,290 ballots returned, 253 rejected (primarily by signature review), 25,037 accepted for count and 25,035 counted. The two‑ballot difference was explained by staff as the net result of four offsetting, style‑level mismatches discovered during batch reconciliation (for example, a Big Sky ballot found inside a Belgrade batch and vice versa). Jasmine said the reconciliation ties batch numbers, scanned reconciliation sheets and tabulator operators’ notes together to locate and explain individual mismatches.

The board asked whether those discrepancies were material to any outcome; staff said they were not. After the canvass staff presented the investigation and supporting reconciliation sheets, a commissioner moved to certify the investigation; the motion passed by voice vote.

Certifications and commission actions The canvass board certified these results and took the following formal actions (motions and unanimous voice approvals): - Big Sky Resort Area District: certified a director retention question (904 in favor, 120 against) and three ballot measures (a tax extension, and two bond questions) with vote totals read into the record by the canvass board and motions to certify approved by voice vote. - Firelight Meadows County Water and Sewer District creation: certified the creation vote with 147 votes in favor and 0 votes against; staff noted the statutory turnout threshold under the cited law (7 13 2 2 1 4) — a favorable vote equal to or exceeding 40 percent of qualified electors — had been surpassed. The commission then convened a special meeting and passed county Resolution 2025‑038 to declare and order the district’s organization so the election administrator can file formation paperwork with the Secretary of State. - Hebgen Basin Rural Resort Area: certified creation results (117 in favor, 66 against as recorded for the district creation) and the commission passed county Resolution 2025‑039 to create the district under the applicable statute (7 6 15 39). A public commenter identified herself as Shane Group, fire chief, Hampton Basin Fire District, and thanked the commission and election staff; no other public comments were received.

Acclamations and uncontested offices Staff read a slate of candidates who were elected by acclamation for various fire and water districts (examples: Philip G. Vlickema and David A. Kim to Amsterdam RFD; Carol L. Collins and John M. Seeley to Big Sky RFD; Rebecca Brocke, Cassandra Farr, Jeff Gill, Carol Powell, Kurt Rice for Firelight Meadows Water and Sewer, terms to be determined by lot). The board moved to accept those acclamations and approved them by voice vote.

Procedural notes and next steps Jasmine noted a new statutory requirement (included in the canvass packet) requiring the canvassing board to sign a discrepancy report; because full physical recounts of tens of thousands of ballots are impractical, the statute allows the election administrator to investigate and present findings for the board to accept. Staff signed certificates and will file required formation documents with the Secretary of State for the two created districts.

The canvass portion of the meeting concluded and the commission opened a special meeting to adopt the two resolutions creating the Firelight Meadows County Water and Sewer District (Resolution 2025‑038) and the Hebgen Basin Rural Resort Area District (Resolution 2025‑039). The votes on those resolutions were recorded as voice votes with no nays noted.

The board’s clerk will include the certified results and signed discrepancy certificates in the official minutes and will deliver the statutory filings to the Secretary of State and affected district offices as required.