Voting in Montana is Safe and Secure
America elections are a model around the world for safe and secure secret ballot voting with freedom, fairness, and checks and balances. Elections are the bedrock of our democracy. It is essential that the upcoming November 5 general election holds firm to all of our checks and balances that keep our elections safe and secure for all citizens.
State governments administer elections, and they take strong steps to ensure only eligible people can vote. It is against the law to vote ifyou are not a citizen, and the penalty for non-citizens voting is deportation.
Montana has a strong system of checks and balances that ensure that eligible voters can cast their ballots with confidence. Montana relies on paper ballots. Absentee ballots, ballots issued to in-person voters on Election Day, and paper ballots mailed to overseas voters, are all identical for voters in the same precinct. Only paper ballots are used for those voting in Montana. In our ever-increasingly electronic high-tech world, low-tech paper and pens are the most secure way to protect the vote. Using paper and pens means no machine stands between voters and their ballots. Paper ballots prevent hacking of our vote count, and allow for easy recounts and auditing.
In Montana, absentee ballots are only mailed to voters who have requested them and who are “active” voters, i.e., have voted in the last federal election. Voters must sign the outer envelope in which they return their voted ballots. For every ballot received in the county election office, the code on the outer envelope is checked against the signature on file to ensure that the signature on the envelope is that of the voter to whom the ballot was sent. Once the outer envelope is checked and accepted, the inner secrecy envelope is separated from the outer envelope to maintain the privacy of voter identity.
Election workers are our friends and neighbors and live in the county where they serve. They work in teams to ensure ballots are never handled, opened, or counted by only one person to prevent vote tampering. Teams of people are involved in securely monitoring and transporting ballots, in opening absentee ballots, confirming the voter’s signature, preparing the ballots for counting, and conducting the count. These teams include local people from both major parties as well as minor parties and independents. Every Montana election worker takes an oath to protect the integrity of the election.
Based on the number of voters in the precinct, and using an approved formula for projecting the number of potential same-day voter registrations and potential replacement ballots required, the election official determines the correct number of each ballot to print. Every ballot printed is accounted for after the election: if 350 ballots were printed for a precinct, officials verify that the used and unused, returned and unreturned absentees, and damaged or replaced ballots equals 350 after the election.
You can’t vote twice. If you returned a mail-in or absentee ballot, but also requested a ballot at the polls on election day, the elections office will have a record if your ballot has been accepted. The second ballot will not be accepted.
Vote-tallying machines are tested just before elections to make sure they are working properly, and are tested again after the election through random audits of selected races using hand-counts of paper ballots. These machines are not connected to the Internet and cannot be hacked.
As Montanans, let’s reject divisive misinformation and fear concerning our elections. From local poll workers to county and state election officials, let’s work together to keep our elections safe and secure.
Nancy Leifer, League of Women Voters of Montana
