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Representative asks Cascade County Commission not to dispose of 2020 ballots – Daily Montanan [1]

['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- December']

Date: 2023-12-19  

Donning a festive red sweater and a Santa hat, Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls, asked Cascade County commissioners on Tuesday not to dispose of 2020 ballots, saying they were “evidence.”

Commissioner Joe Briggs said in a previous meeting Sheldon-Galloway requested the ballots continue to be stored through the 2023 legislative session, in case legislators wanted to examine them.

Sheldon-Galloway told commissioners holding onto the federal election ballots was like keeping evidence in a murder case.

“We have not come to a conclusion,” Sheldon-Galloway said. “It is the most disputed election that we’ve had.”

As an example of why keeping evidence is important, Sheldon-Galloway pointed to her sister-in-law’s murder from decades past.

“We are still going back to the parole board, and that evidence is still relevant 40 years later,” she said.

Election denial conspiracies surrounding the 2020 election started after former President Donald Trump denied losing the election.

Commissioners met Tuesday to continue discussion on how to handle finding both an interim and permanent elections administrator. The commission voted 2-1 last week to remove election administration from Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant’s duties after nearly a year of mishaps and an active lawsuit over how she handled two May elections.

The commission decided not to take action at the meeting without input from Merchant, who was traveling home, according to Commissioner Rae Grulkowski. Briggs said he would look into how the commission can buy paper for ballot stock ahead of the upcoming federal election, and the commission planned to meet with the Great Falls Public school district about its May election.

Because no motions were made by the commission, during public comment, residents were not allowed to comment on the agenda discussed, as is protocol. But many took the time to request the commission rescind the resolution passed last week to take election duties away from Merchant.

Steven Vinnedge brought a prop bucket up to the podium, in reference to a bucket of keys taken from the elections office as part of turning over elections duties.

“Into a bucket! A bucket, I say!” Vinnedge said in the cadence of “The Night Before Christmas.”

“Can you attest that the equipment is safe? Or do you have plans to recalibrate? How secure are your ballots, the old and the new? I fear our elections, your antics did screw,” Vinnedge said, before requesting the commission rescind the election.

The commission will reconvene on Thursday at 3 p.m.

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[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/12/19/representative-asks-cascade-county-commission-not-to-dispose-of-2020-ballots/

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