Today is Flag Day – fly it proudly!
Here are the topics for today’s column:
- Voting in Cascade County
- Elsie Arntzen
- NBA & NHL
- One More Thing
VOTING IN CASCADE COUNTY:
The Electric is reporting that the Cascade County Commissioners approved a contract for outside counsel to represent the county and Sandra Merchant in the second lawsuit filed over the May 2 election. The second lawsuit, according to The Electric, was filed by property owners in the Fort Shaw Irrigation District and the West Great Falls Flood Control and Drainage District over issues with their May 2 elections.
From what I have read, I think the county needs to have a do-over for these elections.
It seems from comments in reports and social media, that many people believe the last election, which was about the library levy, went more smoothly because there was an election monitor in place who probably had more experience than all the hired staff and volunteers in the election office combined.
This (an election monitor) might be something the county commissioners look at for future elections. It might save them from having to hire outside counsel to defend an inept Clerk and Recorder.
Read the complete report from The Electric HERE.
ELSIE ARNTZEN:
There is a lot of speculation in a story from Lee Newspapers about Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen and a possible run for the state’s eastern congressional district.
I guess it depends on if the current U.S. Representative for that district (MT-02), Republican Matt Rosendale, decides to run against U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) again (and get his ass kicked even worse this time around).
Frankly, as a voter in MT-02, I would not mind if Arntzen took on Rosendale in the primary for MT-02. I don’t think her views are as extreme as Rosendale’s and the Democrats might as well face it, MT-02 is a solid Republican seat unless they really screw it up.
Lee Newspapers also reported that in March, Republican Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci told the Montana Free Press he would seek to replace Rosendale if he challenges Tester. I think Pinocci is more extreme than Arntzen.
You can read the whole article from Lee Newspapers HERE – and you can always speculate in the comment section of The Western Word.
NBA & NHL:
And just like that, the NBA and NHL seasons have ended. I guess that means winter is officially over!
The Denver Nuggets won the NBA Championship beating the Miami Heat 4-1 in the best-of-seven series. The Vegas Golden Knights also beat the Florida Panthers 4-1 in their Stanley Cup Final best-of-seven series.
After the regular season and the playoffs, I think it is safe to say the finals in each sport were pretty anticlimactic.
Now I wait for football…
ONE MORE THING:
Our flag honors those who have fought to protect it and is a reminder of the sacrifice of our nation’s founders and heroes. As the ultimate icon of America’s storied history, the Stars and Stripes represent the very best of this nation. – Joe Barton
The Western Word 
Regarding Eastern Congressional District, I didn’t think the far right could come up with a candidate dumber than Matt the Rat. Imagine my astonishment……they came up with TWO! Talk about being ‘spoilt for choice.”
My flag is out!
Regarding elections, I’m very curious to find out just what it is costing us taxpayers to underwrite the conspiracy theories held by our Clerk & Recorder with regard to elections. The very small turnout at the polls for the Library Levy election has cost us plenty. I read one post estimating that each vote cast at the poll cost over $100! Where is the legendary fiscal conservatism of the GOP?
It would be interresting to find out who made the $100 cost comment to see which side they were on. -JmB
I don’t put a lot of credence in what I read (if I recall, it was on a local social media site), since no bills have been issued by the county to the governing boards of any of the elections. I’m in touch with one of the school board trustees, so I expect I’ll hear when an invoice is received. They are hoping it will be in the current fiscal year, which ends this month.
Doesn’t matter which side they’re on, in my view, though it wouldn’t take a lot of thought to draw a conclusion.
Here’s what I could find: “Sandra neglected to give even an estimate cost to the library board although they “asked” at least twice. But, if the election cost $20,000ish then the cost of each of the 320 Library election votes would be around $60.00. If the cost runs closer to $50,000, then the cost per could be closer to $130. But, like most of the requests for information submitted to the election office/county attorney, the replies have been delayed or non-existant.” In my personal opinion, I think the total cost will be closer to $80,000 overall With roughly 13,800 votes cast, that would be $5.80 per vote. If the entire election had been run by mail, as asked, and the cost were $41,000 based on earlier election costs, then the cost would be $3 per vote, give or take. It’s hard to guess at the cost of having polls open, but it certainly would be a stretch to call it fiscally responsible. Just using my figures (saying that having the polls open cost an additional $39k, then the 320 votes cast at the polls would have cost over $121 each. I grant that there is no hard evidence to support my “guesstimate.”
Interesting. Thank you. -JmB
I don’t recall that the County elections office has presented a final bill for the library election yet, particularly the live polls portion, so hard to see how anyone can figure much each live vote cast cost. But there were just 300 in-person votes. So whatever that incremental cost to add in-person over all mail was, divided by 300, it’s not going to be cheap.
In contrast, the cost for all mail that was bandied about ahead of time was $48,000. Even if the elections office managed to spend that same entire amount mailing to just the registered absentee voters vs. all eligible voters like in an all-mail election, divide by approx 13,500 mail votes, and that’s a low low $3.55/vote.