Election office works to correct errors with mailed ballots

With more than 12,000 ballots mailed out to active voters in Lincoln County, officials said there are bound to be a few errors.

Under the county’s voting plan, election officials mailed out the bulk of ballots on Oct. 9. While most residents should have received their ballots within 10 days, Chris Nelson, election administrator, said some were not delivered because voters failed to update their address.

Many voters assume that officials will forward ballots to their current addresses, according to Nelson. This misconception is behind some of the cases of undelivered ballots.

“Ballots cannot be forwarded, by law,” Nelson said.

When an undelivered ballot is returned to the election office, Nelson said officials will call the intended voter. These voters can pick up their ballots in-person at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Libby. Nelson said he and his staff can accommodate disabled voters by bringing ballots out to the curb.

Gail Reeves, a Eureka resident, said she received two ballots by mail that were addressed to people who did not live at her home. A third ballot, which was addressed to her, came in an affidavit envelope marked with a sticker that did not match her information.

“It would have looked like I was trying to vote for someone else,” she said if she had filled out the ballot.

Each ballot mailer is labeled with two stickers, according to Nelson. An election judge could mix up the sets leading to the error.

Nelson said election officials would void and reissue ballots reported with errors.

Reeves said she had spoken with election officials who had rectified the issue.