Voters in the Seeley-Swan and Potomac Valleys will have an uncontested race on their primary ballots that they are unable to vote in — for Public Service Commission District 4. This is due to a proofing error missed by both the state and the county that impacted about 17,000 ballots in the northeastern part of Missoula County.
After the most recent redistricting cycle, voters in these valleys were reassigned to PSC District 5, not 4. PSC District 5 is not up for election this year and the election in District 4 is uncontested across the four parties, which means the error will not impact the primary election, according to a release from the county elections office.
The Missoula County Elections Office will not be counting votes in this race and the outcome will have no impact on the election since the races in district four are uncontested and district five didn’t have a race to begin with. The elections office will program the ballot counting machines to make sure that the race will not be counted regardless, according to a release from the office.
“I live and breathe elections, and stuff like this still throws me for a loop,” Elections Administrator Bradley Seaman said.
Voters can attend a voting equipment testing observation on May 28 at 9:45 a.m. at the Missoula County Elections Office located at 140 North Russell Street in Missoula to learn more or can call Seaman at 406-258-4751.
Seaman encouraged voters to check myvoterpagemt.com to check on voter registration, track mailed ballots and locate polling places.
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