The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

Lana Claassen, Chouteau County Clerk, from the Chouteau County Clerk and Reporters office, whose primary job is to ensure we have a fair and reliable voting process, is 99.99% sure voting is fair. Every person who is registered to vote has a statewide registered number. If you have requested a mail-in ballot, there is a name and number on the outside envelope, requiring your signature. It contains your inside envelope with your ballet. She said, “we double-check every single day, making sure that what the computers say is accurate. There are so many checks and balances.” When you send in that ballet, your signature is matched, and that number is counted and mark as voted. This goes on every day, as they count and recount mail-in ballots making sure the numbers match.

You can still call and have a mail-in ballot sent to you. Because of COVID-19, you can request that only this ballot be sent to you, or you can have every ballot mailed to you. The polling places will also be open if you want to vote in person.

After you mail in your ballot, they compare your signatures, and then they mark you as already voted. At that point, you have been registered as voted, and you cannot vote again at the polling place.

The post office says to mail your ballot a week ahead of Nov 3. In Chouteau County, we are fortunate because the Post Master will hang on to the ballot and hand-deliver them to the polling place if they feel the ballot was mailed too late to make it to the polling place successfully. If your ballot is not received at the proper time, it is not counted.

“You can’t double up. For example, if you are registered in Bozeman and then come home to vote, you will be given a Provisional Ballot. Provisional Ballots are not included in the count until the Monday after the election when it is determined you did not, in fact, vote in Bozeman. Luckily we have very few Provisional Ballots in Chouteau County.”

Contact the Chouteau County Clerk and Recorders Office 406-622-5151 for any reason. They are currently sending out a mailing. Contact them: Asking for a mail-in ballot, even if it’s just for this election year, if you don’t get your mail-in ballot, if you want off the mail-in ballot list and now want to vote in person, or if you can’t vote in person because you are sick or in the hospital and need someone to pick up your ballet. Call the office if you have any questions or concerns at all.