BUTTE — After a human error caused a recount in the Butte-Silver Bow County primary election in August this year, Butte-Silver Bow's Clerk and Recorder says the public can feel confident that election results will be secure and accurate.
There were no significant changes in the results of the primary election recount that took place in August and was overseen by a Montana Senate-appointed committee at the Butte Civic Center. The county performed a recount of 1,000 ballots that were counted twice.
At a recent city council meeting, a member of a state senate-appointed committee addressed city council members to confirm that the county's election is safe and secure but he urged the council of commissioners to be more vigilant in overseeing the process.
WATCH PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Butte begins recount of primary ballots after discrepancies found
During the Oct. 23 council meeting, Commissioner Michelle Shea said the council will do better when it comes to scrutinizing election results.
"We vow to do better and take a more regular look," said Shea. She added that she and the council trusted the B-SB Clerk and Recorder and election results have never been an issue.
At the meeting Shea said the county is very fortunate that the mistake was "a fairly simple human error that can be corrected by checks and balances" and she said the Council of Commissioners and the recount are all part of the checks and balances that can be used in the case of error.
"I want people to understand that our elections are secure; this was really an unfortunate situation with all of the rhetoric that is going around about elections. Elections are secure. Elections are secure everywhere," said Shea.
Butte-Silver Bow Clerk and Recorder Linda Sajor-Joyce says her team has procedures in place to make sure the mistake will not occur again but election returns will likely take longer to announce.
"The elections are gonna be slower. The results are going to be returned slower while we get all our checkpoints to make sure things are balancing where they need to be balanced at all the points where ballots are exchanged and then to make sure at the reporting level that things are cleared and balancing properly before we move on," says Linda Sajor-Joyce, B-SB Clerk and Recorder.
Early voting is already underway in Butte and Sajor-Joyce says people can still register to vote at the Butte-Silver Bow County Courthouse. She says absentee ballots can still be dropped off at the courthouse but if voters are looking to mail ballots they should do so by Thursday, Oct. 31. Absentee ballots can also be hand-delivered to the Butte Civic Center on Election Day, Nov. 5.
