Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.

 

2 May 2014

Voters remorse in Great Falls?

That’s a distinct possibility. A school district in Great Falls is conducting its spring election by mail ballot — which means early voting is possible — which means they who cast early votes are stuck with their votes — and which means than some who cast early votes for school board candidate Cyndi Baker might now be wishing they hadn’t.

Yesterday, Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices slapped Baker with a Finding of Sufficient Facts to Show a Violation of Montana Campaign Practice Law. Both the Montana Cowgirl and the Great Falls based The Western Word blogs have excellent posts on the details, and Cowgirl has a wonderful photograph of Cyndi in her Statue of Liberty costume standing next to Cleve Loney in his American Revolution costume, so please visit their websites for the details and discussion. Baker’s in a heap of legal trouble.

She also may be in like Flynn (I doubt it) thanks to receiving early votes cast by voters who may now wish they had waited until election day to make up their minds.

That’s the problem with early voting. Something that would affect a voter’s choice could happen between the early casting of a vote and election day. But once votes are cast, they can’t be changed. Voters who cast stupid early votes are stuck with their stupidity.

Kalispell is using a mail ballot this spring for school board and levy elections. I’m submitting my ballot in person late in the afternoon on election day. I never cast early votes. Neither should you.