Cascade County commissioners chose a new election administrator Thursday.
Commissioners unanimously selected former Great Falls Association of Realtors CEO Terry Thompson to manage Cascade County’s elections. Thompson served terms on a neighborhood council in Great Falls and unsuccessfully ran for city council in 2020.
Other candidates for the job included a former Democratic clerk and recorder and their deputy administrator. Thompson was the only candidate with no experience working in an elections office. She pitched herself to commissioners during her interview as a problem-solver and quick learner.
Commissioner Rae Grulkowski said she was pleased with the panel’s decision, which came after months of tumultuous public meetings focused on stabilizing the county’s elections office.
“I’m excited for our future,” Grulkowski said. “I’d like to have things calm down and get to work on a very heavy election year.”
Public commenters were largely supportive of the commissioners’ choice.
Thompson will fill the nonpartisan administrator role previously held by current Republican county Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant. Commissioners removed election management duties from Merchant’s office in December following a series of elections that drew allegations of mistakes and misconduct.
The next election on Cascade County’s calendar is a school election in May.
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Last month, Cascade County commissioners capped a tumultuous year of election discord when they hired a new nonpartisan election administrator. But according to new reporting from online publication The Electric, Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen emailed commissioners before they made their choice and advised them against hiring two of the four candidates for the job. -
The Cascade County Commission has unanimously appointed a new interim elections administrator after stripping the duties from the county’s clerk and recorder in December. -
One of Montana’s largest counties is still without someone to lead its elections one week after its previous administrator lost her duties. -
The Cascade County Commission voted Tuesday to remove election duties from the clerk and recorders office. -
Cascade County commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether to remove election duties from the clerk and recorder’s office. The move to strip the duties from the office comes after a year of lawsuits and allegations of misconduct directed at the current election administrator.
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Cascade County commissioners unanimously certified municipal election results Wednesday, more than a week after a state-imposed deadline.
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Cascade County commissioners Wednesday will attempt for a second time to certify municipal election results from earlier this month. -
A citizen group monitoring the Cascade County elections office says they’re seeing evidence of new ballot irregularities in Great Falls municipal elections.
