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Bill would require Secretary of State to publish standardized county election reconciliations
Summary
Sen. Therese Manzella proposed Senate Bill 440 to require a standardized reconciliation report from counties to the Secretary of State and distribution to the legislature and public ahead of state certification; proponents and clerks discussed scope and workload.
Sen. Therese Manzella, sponsor of Senate Bill 440, told the House State Administration Committee the bill would require the Secretary of State to collect a standardized, comprehensive reconciliation of canvassed statewide election results and make the report available to legislators and the public before state certification.
"This bill is a pretty basic bill. To safeguard and purify our process, the legislature needs to have some basic data provided to us," Sen. Manzella said, citing the committee's experience with the Butte-Silver Bow recount as motivation to provide an earlier look at county-level numbers.
Manzella described the data requested as totals by county for electors, ballots issued and cast by type (poll, absentee, provisional, military/overseas), totals accepted and rejected by type, and the number of same-day registrants. The sponsor said the Secretary of State should issue a template to standardize reporting across counties.
The bill would apply only to "statewide canvassed election results," the sponsor and amendment authors said, excluding municipal or school elections. Senators and witnesses cited statute sections used for timing: county canvass is completed within 14 days (cited as 13-15-401) and state certification occurs by about 27 days after the election (cited as 13-15-501). The proposed reconciliation would be available roughly seven days before state canvass/certification so legislative leadership could be "read in" to discrepancies prior to final certification.
Regina Plettenberg, representing the Montana Association of Clerk and Recorders, told the committee many counties already compile spreadsheets with similar data and that the Secretary of State's standardized template could reduce extra effort and make comparisons "apples to apples." Committee members asked where reports would be sent; the sponsor said the Secretary of State would submit the report to the Legislative Service Division for distribution to all members of the legislature, post it to the statewide election website and present it to the House State Administration Committee.
Questions touched on who in the legislature would act if discrepancies were found. Sen. Manzella said legislative leadership would decide next steps and, depending on the problem, steps could range from reviewing precincts to appointing a special select committee, as was done in the Butte-Silver Bow matter.
No committee vote occurred. The hearing record shows informational testimony from the clerk-and-recorder association and discussion about workload and standardization; sponsors said they had worked with election administrators on the template and training.
