With Election Day less than two weeks away, 6,000 undeliverable ballots did not make it into voters' hands in Gallatin County. Now, the county is working to get those ballots delivered while reassuring voters of a secure election.
Undeliverable ballots can be caused by a voter not having up-to-date information on their voter registration.
“Ballots are not forwardable, and we notify people when they are not forwarded,” said Gallatin County Clerk & Recorder Eric Semerad.
Undeliverable ballots can be caused by a voter not updating an address and their ballot being sent to the old address. Gallatin County officials then step in to send a notice to those voters, making them aware of their ballot being undeliverable and asking to update their voter registration in the process.
Semerad says that undeliverable ballots are common every election, but they still have a process that allows the voter to get a ballot.
“This process that we're doing now with the undeliverables is kind of an ongoing thing that we do every year,” Semerad said.
Double-checking voter lists and making sure that voters are active are just some of the steps they take to make sure that voters receive their ballots.
“We know the status of that ballot for that person,” said Semerad. “If somebody is committing fraud, then we catch those signatures and the signatures have to match.”
In order to make sure voters get ballots, the Clerk's Office goes through various steps before ballots are mailed. They work with the Department of Health and Human Services to verify that a voter is living. They also check with the Secretary of State which verifies that canceled voters also don't receive a ballot. This process helps ensure that the right voter gets the right ballot.
“After the election, we conduct a canvas where we take those numbers and present them to the canvassing board and they verify that, yes, in fact, our numbers do match up,” said Semerad.
Even your participation history can be used as a verification that you get a ballot in the upcoming elections.
If you have questions about your ballot you can call the Gallatin County Elections Department at 406-582-3060 or visit them at 311 W. Main St., Room 210 in Bozeman.
