PSC District One, An Open Seat For The Hi-Line  and Beyond

Election Chaos In Cascade County

by Ken Toole | Nov 10, 2024 | Elections

By now we all know that election day in Cascade County was chaotic. WTF406 has received numerous reports from people about waits as long as seven hours for voters. This election was characterized by confusion, poor organization, and staff who were poorly trained and disorganized.

Responsibility for this mess should be laid directly on the shoulders of the County Commission.  Going all the way back to the two years before the election of Sandra Merchant and Rae Grulkowski, it was obvious the national election denier movement had arrived in Cascade County. Former election administrator Rina Moore and her staff were constantly harassed and confronted by people presenting bizarre conspiracy theories straight from the “My Pillow Guy” and his Montana minions, western Montana legislators Theresa Manzella and Brad Tschida.  Locally, the Republican Pachyderm Club became a launching pad for promoting election disruption under the guidance of local legislators Steven and Lola Galloway.  See our previous post https://wtf406.com/?s=Manzella

The election denier Sandra Merchant defeated veteran clerk and recorder Rina Moore and the shit show began. Merchant proved to be completely incompetent and ultimately the County Commissioners removed election administration from her office. But not before she managed to replace almost all of the clerk and recorder staff with her cronies in the local election denier ranks.  When the County Commission hired a new administrator for elections, they selected Terry Thompson as the new administrator in a completely corrupt hiring decision driven by Commissioner Rae Grulkowski.  The table was set for the mess we saw on election day. Grulkowski Plays Dirty– Did We Really Expect Anything Else? – What the Funk

We asked a couple of people who were there all day and into the night for their observations.  Below we excerpted some of their comments.

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Observer #1

On November 5, 2024, I started my day at 6:30 am at the Montana Expo Park observing the voting process.  Little did I know what was in store for the next 15 hours.

Election judges early in the day seemed confused about provisional ballots, inactive voters, and some other special circumstances. When judges would signal, by waving a flag, for assistance on questions there would be an approximately 10-minute delay or more in receiving help. Many times, the Election Official did not have the answer.  Judges also received conflicting information at times.

Unfortunately, the lines became impossibly long. This happened within 30 minutes of the polls opening. Some voters stood in line for up to 7 hours. Numerous people left without voting out of frustration and need to get to appointments or work. There were 2 to 3 people at computers registering voters and resolving other issues regarding voter registration. Individual voters took it upon themselves to set up chairs that were stacked up against the walls. Why did this not happen before election day? Line management was nonexistent. When the polls closed at 8:00pm, there were over 500 hundred people waiting in line. 

People were given conflicting information at times as to where they should line up.Staff were not prepared to handle the large number of people that were registering and having to solve issues with their ballot. Separate stations would have solved the issue and cut down on the time people had to stand in line. Signage would have been very beneficial in directing people where they should go. There were no such signs.

Voters were frustrated after standing in line for hours and then told they were in the wrong line and had to move. Poor communication and information.

There were not enough people staffing the polling place. Why didn’t the Commission forsee this? Many counties will pull employees from other departments to assist on Election Day, why was this an option here.

It was very noticeable the lack of experience of the Election Officials and the Administrator. It was exhausting watching the frustration and fatigue of the people who took the time to turn out and vote.  High praises to those people who stuck it out. Mistakes will happen, but not on the scale that I witnessed. Clearly many changes need to be made.  

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 Observer #2

Witnessed multiple voters leaving the lines in the morning saying that they had to get to work. I informed them that if they came back before 8pm they would be assisted. A couple that I remembered did come back

Mass confusion is the best way I can describe what was happening in the polling place. Issues of not knowing where to go or what line to get into were a problem from the start of the day to the end of the day.

Late registration line was set up to serpentine in a side garage. This space was not sufficient in size. The line started weaving into the main hall and creating confusion on where to go or how to get to their precinct table.

A secondary line was set up for handicapped voters. However non-handicapped people got in the line and, once they got up to the late registration table, they were informed that they are not supposed to be in that line and sent to the main late registration line. The handicap line was at most 2 hours and now the voters were sent to the other line that had a wait time of several hours.

One voter came in wearing a Make America Great Again hat. He was approached by Elections staff and was asked to remove it. The Voter took the hat off and put it on his child. I notified the Elections staff about this and he informed me that the child is unable to vote so it doesn’t matter.

I informed the Elections staff of an individual wearing a “Pray to end abortion” pin. While I was informing the worker, a Cascade County Attorney was standing nearby. She informed me that it would be hard to say if that is electioneering and that they will not tell her to remove it.

The Election judges at the precinct tables were informed to wave flags to get the attention of Election staff for assistance. Multiple times I timed them and they waved the flag from as little as 1 minute up to 6 Minutes.Some did not ever get help and would send the voter to get the help that they needed.

Julie Bass was walking around assisting voters. She was not signed in as a poll watcher or observer.

One of the biggest concerns that was noted to me is the severe lack of security. Anyone was able to walk into the count board area or the late registration area. One gentleman from the GOP kept walking behind the counter to talk to election officials. Voters were going behind the counter for assistance and going by the ballots. Extra assistance was brought in and not vetted.