Ballots for the general election will be mailed out this Friday to every active voter in Yellowstone County. An active voter is one who has been participating in elections or whose ballots have not been returned as undeliverable by the post office. According to Bret Rutherford, Election Administrator for Yellowstone County, the number of ballots being sent is approximately 90,000. The 2020 Federal General Election will be run as an all-mail ballot election in Yellowstone County. Polling places will NOT be open on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020.
If you are unsure if you are registered to vote, you can check your registration status on the “My Voter Page” of co.yellowstone.mt.gov/elections/. Voter registrations can be filled out and submitted until October 26, but, according to Rutherford, “You are playing with fire if you wait that long.” October 27 begins late registration, and registration applications must be delivered in person to the County Elections Office in order to receive a ballot. Ballots are now available at the County Elections Office through noon on November 2, and then again on election day from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM. “Don’t wait,” Rutherford encourages. “It isn’t a polling place with a bunch of election judges. It is one office, and if you wait until election day, you can expect long wait times to get a ballot and vote. And we are just going to reissue the same ballot that was sent to your home, so just fill it out and mail it in or drop it off in person.”
The Yellowstone County Elections Office has moved to MetraPark due to the pandemic and to allow for more space and appropriate social distancing. They are located at the Montana Pavilion at Metra Park at 308 6th Avenue N. in Billings. Rutherford stated that they are working on securing a few drop sites where ballots could be dropped off in person, but he did not have any further information. A sample ballot is available on the county elections website, and one was also printed in the Yellowstone County News Special Election Edition on October 2, 2020 on page 10.
Once received, ballots must be completed in blue or black ink and placed in the secrecy envelope which is included with the ballot. Voters must sign the voter affirmation on the return signature envelope which is then placed inside the return envelope. Failure to sign the return signature envelope will invalidate the ballot. Signatures will be compared with those on file, and if the signatures do not match, the ballot may not be validated. If a ballot is invalidated, the Elections Office will reach out to the voter via letter or a phone call if a phone number for the voter can be found. Voters can then sign an affidavit to validate their ballot or come in to the Elections Office. In the primary election this summer, approximately 500 ballots remained invalidated because the voters did not fix their errors. According to Rutherford, voters are usually more proactive in a general presidential election to rectify their errors. In the 2016 presidential election, only 194 ballots remained invalidated.
Voters are encouraged to mail their ballots by October 27th to ensure delivery by the 8:00PM November 3, 2020, deadline. Ballots may also be delivered to the County Courthouse at 217 N 27th St in Billings or to the Elections Office in the Montana Pavilion at Metra Park, located at 308 6th Ave N, Billings.
