Judge David Grubich earlier this month voided election results from multiple parts of the Fort Shaw Irrigation District west of Great Falls.
Plaintiffs had sued the irrigation district and former county election administrator Sandra Merchant following the May 2023 election. The plaintiffs said ballots were sent late and some didn’t have signature or secrecy envelopes.
The irrigation district’s attorney, in a court filing, agreed that the district also made paperwork errors in the days leading up to the election.
Cascade County commissioners voted to remove election duties from clerk and recorder Sandra Merchant last year as her office faced other accusations of mishandled elections.
The county’s current, nonpartisan election administrator Terry Thompson said the irrigation district election will be redone on February 25.
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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. -
Commissioners unanimously selected former Great Falls Association of Realtors CEO Terry Thompson to manage Cascade County’s elections. -
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.
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The Cascade County Commission voted Tuesday to remove election duties from the clerk and recorders office.
