Butte-Silver Bow council places federal-primary canvas notice on file after clerk flags unreconciled precincts and rejected ballots

Cindy Sherman, Butte-Silver Bow Clerk and Recorder, told the Council of Commissioners on June 16 that two precincts were not reconciled and that 292 absentee ballots had been discarded after voters cast multiple ballots, and the council voted 12-0 to place the related communication on file and proceed to schedule the official federal primary canvas.

Sherman said the unreconciled precincts are 8.1 and 3.1 and explained the nature of the discrepancies: in some cases a voter "managed to get by the election judge and put more than one ballot in one voted ballot in the box," producing rejected ballots that must be subtracted from totals. "We did throw out 292 absentee ballots due to them voting multiple ballots," she said.

She also described "resolution ballots," damaged ballots that cannot be read by the machine and are transcribed by staff onto a new ballot for counting. Sherman explained the jurisdiction uses two tabulators—one for absentee ballots and one for election-day polls—so some ballots remade as resolution ballots show up under the poll totals; for example, four remade resolution ballots were moved to the poll tabulator for one precinct, which the clerk demonstrated how to account for when reconciling numbers.

Sherman walked commissioners through the provided spreadsheet and recommended that each commissioner highlight their assigned precinct row, check the votes-cast totals, compare absentee and poll counts, subtract any ballots rejected by the prep team, and consult the end-of-spreadsheet comments for resolution-ballot notes. She offered staff assistance during reconciliation and emphasized that commissioners must sign the score sheets and the canvas report before leaving.

Commissioner Thatcher moved to place Communication No. 2026-293 on file; the motion was seconded and the clerk recorded a verbal vote of "12 yay, zero nay." The motion passed. Chairman Morgan then asked for public comment on non-agenda items; seeing none, he called for a motion to adjourn and the meeting concluded without further action.

The special meeting referenced in the communication was called for Tuesday, June 16, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, Room 312, to conduct the official 2026 federal primary election canvas to ensure compliance with the statutory timeline.