Here are today’s topics for Thursday Thoughts:
- Cascade County Clerk & Recorder
- Don’t Say Gay
- One More Thing
CASCADE COUNTY CLERK & RECORDER:
KMON Country Radio 560 AM in Great Falls did an interview with Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki this week. His views were interesting.
In a story posted on their website, KMON reports:
Reports last week that some local elections may be canceled are not true according to Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki. He says all elections will happen but the process may be a bit different this time around.
I guess the election mess was all just a dream – a figment of our imagination.
In more of the Racki interview, KMON reports:
The upcoming elections will not be done by mail only because a new company to handle the sorting has not been selected and the old company used is now out of business. He says reports that absentee ballots will not go out in the mail for upcoming elections are also not true. He says absentee ballots will still go out in the mail. And for the May 2 Great Falls School Board Election, absentee ballots will go out on April 17th. And they are due back in the office by election day. If you want to vote absentee just contact the Cascade County Elections office.
Racki was appointed to the position in 2017. Racki was last elected in 2022. He was unopposed. He is a Democrat. I am happy to say I have never voted for him, not because he is a Democrat, but because he does not do a good enough job, in my humble opinion.
I imagine he knows if some MAGA-leaning attorney decides to run against him, he will be toast.
Read the complete report from KMON HERE.
DON’T SAY GAY:
The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ‘ administration is moving to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” as the Republican governor continues to focus on cultural issues ahead of his expected presidential run.
The AP says the rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4 to 12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take. The initial law that DeSantis championed last spring bans those lessons in kindergarten through the third grade. The change was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel.
Some days I am amazed by the things that politicians spend their time on. This is one of those issues. Here in Montana, it’s drag queen shows and story hours. The bigotry in Montana and in other conservative states is troubling.
You can read the full AP story HERE.
ONE MORE THING:
Statistically speaking, your kids are safer around drag queens than priests or Republican politicians. –@MiddleAgeRiot
The Western Word 
Good Morning Jackie,
Cascade County does indeed have a mess on its hands with your Clerk and Recorder. She may find out that the election laws, when broken come back to haunt those who are elected by the public to follow them.
She seems to have gone to the Trump school of excuses. Seems like the entire thing is an attempt by one person and apparently a group backing her to do what they want and not what the law requires.
I believe the good citizens of Cascade County should recall Ms. Merchant, as she seems to be bent on messing up your elections. Maybe you could argue that her election was “stolen” and she shouldn’t be there at all.
This may be the first battle in a long war with these RWNJs now that they have seized control. The average citizen can no longer sit back and let someone else take care of it for them. Thank goodness you have Raki attempting damage control.
Good luck!
Thanks for the good luck wishes. We’re going to need them! -JmB
It was interesting that Racki and/or the KMON reporting characterized all the elections confusion as “rumors”, when the basis of everything was emails and communications from Sandra Merchant herself. Usually one does not consider official communications from elected officials to be mere rumors. (Also interesting that it required the involvement of the county attorney to address this mess of hers and run damage control. Did he have to – as Delbert Grady put it to Jack Torrance – “correct” her, legally? )
Good to read anyhow that elections should finally go on as originally scheduled and all absentee voters should get their ballots in the mail. I’m still skeptical.
Disappointingly Racki didn’t address why, if all those absentee voters can get mail, something like 87% of all voters in normal elections, the cheaper all-mail elections would be so impossible. Our county clerk’s ineptness is going to cost all the entities holding elections considerable extra money to hold in-person poll elections. Would be interesting to know the count of total voters on the rolls who would receive all-mail ballots, vs those registered for absentee.
Finally, this sentence was kind of disheartening:
“Racki, whose office represents legal issues for all county departments says one thing that will change this year is people that do not vote by absentee ballot will then have to show up at the polls on election day if they want to vote.”
That makes it sound like Merchant won’t get this mail ballot mess cleared up before next year. Apparently won’t be able to find a new mail contractor or sorting machine anywhere on earth in the next nine months. If ever.
County seems to be trying to provide cover for their election department. I don’t see it the way KMON reported it nor the way Racki tried to spin it.
Thanks, JmB
Latest Electric story says Merchant [conveniently] caught a dose of Covid that got her out of her explanatory meeting that was supposed to be today. No mention of an excuse note from mom. Maybe next week or the week after?
Interesting update. I thought Merchant’s assistant saying Merchant had the “China virus” was quite telling. The old MAGA xenophobia is showing through in the Elections office.
Thanks, JmB