(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Great Falls Library wants monitor appointed for mill levy election or it may seek court relief – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- May'] Date: 2023-05-09 The Great Falls Public Library is requesting an elections monitor to oversee the Cascade County Election Office going into its June 6 mill levy election, according to a letter from the library’s legal council sent Monday. A letter sent by attorney Raph Graybill to Cascade County Commissioners Joe Briggs, James Larson, and Rae Grulkowski, County Attorney Josh Racki, and Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant, listed a series of concerns surrounding the Election Office’s handling of the Great Falls Public School District election last week. These included apprehension over instructions on a sample ballot for their upcoming election, the incorrect processing of signatures with the school board election, along with previously reported concerns of absentee ballots not fitting in secrecy envelopes and the delay to vote in person on Election Day. “The library cannot simply rerun a failed election if any of the same violations or irregularities occur. The library will suffer immediate damage if the election is invalidated, and it will hold those responsible for its losses liable for them,” the letter read. The library could face staffing and service shortages, along with a loss of $30,000 in state funds, if the library levy doesn’t pass by July 1. The letter said in order to prevent the potential for a failed election and the consequences for the library, the board is considering seeking injunctive relief from a court, which would include the appointment of someone to oversee the library’s election. “To avoid involvement of the courts, however, we propose that the county immediately appoint a mutually acceptable monitor,” the letter said. The letter follows a meeting Friday in which the Great Falls Public Library Board met to consider the request and heard from the public and from Merchant, who cited issues with the state’s new elections system, ElectMT as part of the source of problems. She said that politics played no part in her office, and every vote was counted, the Great Falls Tribune reported. The Elections Office has been under public scrutiny after Merchant told the Great Falls Public Schools District and the library, among others with upcoming elections in February, that she would be unable to hold an all mail-in ballot election. In November, Merchant narrowly won the election over 16-year incumbent Rina Moore. The letter said the board’s concerns came from a lack of communication from Merchant about the ballot, voting instructions, and evidence of anti-library electioneering within the Elections Office. The electioneering claim was also made by the newly formed Election Protection Committee in a complaint filed with the Commissioner of Political Practices, which was ultimately rejected over jurisdictional issues. The letter said voters were disenfranchised in the last election, claiming voters in a neighborhood east of Great Falls that pay mills for local schools weren’t sent absentee ballots and were denied access to ballots at the polling location. There was also a concern surrounding ballot signature verification. “Signature comparisons were, in fact, made after the votes were counted when it is impossible to retrieve the ballot for any mismatched signatures,” the letter read. “This means counted ballots were not verified as being regular ballots that could be counted, and, therefore, it is not possible to know how many invalid ballots were counted.” The letter said the library board received a copy of the ballot for its upcoming election that contained instructions for write-in candidates, when the mill levy election won’t have candidates. A lack of space for write-in candidates on absentee ballots was another concern flagged in the letter and by the Election Protection Committee. The library is asking the election monitor to have “unfettered, unrestricted access to the operations of the Elections Office” who could send regular updates regarding any potential election-related irregularities or violations to the county commission, the county attorney, and the library board. The election monitor would also be asked to provide “ongoing, detailed technical advice” to Merchant to “avoid issues before they arise.” “The monitor must be deeply experienced in Montana election law and procedures, such as a non-elected former staff member of the elections office, or a current or former election administrator from another county in Montana,” the letter read. The letter requested a response by Wednesday at 12 p.m. to “avoid the need for relief from the court.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/05/09/great-falls-library-wants-monitor-appointed-for-mill-levy-election-or-it-may-seek-court-relief/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/