Belcourt School Board certifies 2024 election; Eric Dion and Scottie Mondell declared winners

Election judge Mike Day read and the Belcourt Public School District No. 7 board certified the unofficial returns of the district’s 2024 school board election at a brief meeting. Mike Day reported a total of 391 ballots cast and read vote tallies for the four candidates who received votes in the district race.

"We hereby certify that the election held in the Belcourt Public School District number 7... on this June," Mike Day stated while reading the returns and the certification language aloud. According to the judge’s report read into the record, the vote totals reported were: Eric Dion, 184; Scottie Mondell, 173; Kurt Peltier, 154; and Anna Ross, 84. The two candidates with the highest vote totals — Eric Dion and Scottie Mondell — were declared elected to three-year seats.

A separate question on the ballot about whether to publish meeting minutes in the official newspaper was also read aloud. Mike Day reported that 391 votes were cast on that question and said 336 voted in favor and 21 against; he stated, "The majority of all votes cast were for publishing the minutes in any official newspaper," and declared that question carried.

During a brief procedural exchange after the judge’s report, a board member raised questions about wording and arithmetic in the written return — specifically whether the report correctly distinguished between total ballots and votes cast on a separate question and how blank or spoiled ballots were counted. The judge’s reading included figures for absentee ballots and spoiled ballots and a separate number for unused ballots that appears inconsistent with the totals read; the transcript records an "805" figure for unused ballots that does not align with the other totals in the record. Those numerical inconsistencies were noted on the record and not changed during the meeting.

The board moved to certify the election results as presented (motion recorded as made by Patty and seconded by Allen). A roll call was conducted and board members recorded affirmative votes; the certification was approved by the board. The meeting concluded after a motion to adjourn was made and approved.

The certification recorded at this meeting reflects the unofficial returns as read into the record by the election judge. The transcript contains inconsistent spellings for one candidate (both "Scottie Mondell" and "Scottie Vandell" appear); the record above uses the spelling as read at the time the judge declared the winners and notes the alternate spelling appears later in the same reading.