Fallon County switches to all-mail ballot with in-person option
Fallon County residents started the election season Oct. 2 when registration started for the Nov. 3 election. Offices said voters will have the option of mailing, dropping off or filling out their ballots in the county building. PHOTO/Brad Mosher
By Brad Mosher
bmosher@countrymedia.net
Fallon County voters have an option to vote in person, according to the officials handling the upcoming November election. “An in-person voting option is what they are calling it,” said Deborah Wyrick, the deputy county clerk and recorder. All ballots will be mailed out Oct. 9 to active voters only. That means new residents will need to make sure they are eligible and on the voting rolls. “In Fallon County there is only one precinct, but we are doing an all-mail ballot with the in-person voting option,” she added. That option will only be available in the office between the hours of 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. For those mailing in ballots, the completed ballots must be put in a security envelope, which is then put inside an outer envelope. “The outer en-
velope has a signature on it,” Wyrick said. “This is the first year that we will have a mail ballot for federal or state elections. In even years, when there is federal and state on the ballot, they are all poll elections in the state of Montana. “With COVID and the governor’s directives, he has allowed us to mail ballots. For Fallon County, we are predominantly an absentee county. We have probably 59 percent of our voters registered as absentee. “So even in a normal election we have a large number of people who vote by mail which is actually an absentee ballot technically.” The in-person voting option is already open for people coming into the office in the county building, she added. “It still requires you to bring the ballot in and the envelopes.” If people forget to bring in their ballot and paperwork
which had been mailed to them, Wyrick said people can still vote. “They would be required to cancel or void their ballot and have one re-issued here in our office. “But, we don’t have the ballots (on hand) to do that for a lot of people. We order probably about ten percent more ballots than we probably have for voters, but that wouldn’t allow for everyone to come in and say they want to void the ballot they left on the kitchen table at home,” she said. There still are important deadlines residents need to meet, including regular voter registration (Oct. 26), and late registration begins Oct. 27. For Wyrick, the most important thing for people to remember is to bring all of their paperwork with them to the office, whether it is to vote, to drop off their vote or to ask questions about the ballot and procedures. “If they want to vote here, it will take no longer than it takes at home. If they haven’t read their voter information pamphlet and they have to read all of it, it could take them a little longer. “The voting process would be whatever it would be normally for them. Then they would have to put it in the secrecy envelope and in the outer envelope and sign it. It may take two minutes (after filling the ballot out) maybe, maximum. “We are going to have a ballot box for them to deposit it into,” Wyrick said. If they haven’t filled out the ballot yet, the
office will send them to a place to do that, then put the ballot in the envelopes and complete everything before putting it in the drop box.” The drop box will be on the front counter. “If they want a (I have voted) sticker. We don’t normally do that,” she added with a chuckle. Because of the COVID pandemic, the office is trying to keep what people touch to a minimum. If people have questions about the ballot, they can call 406-778-7106. “That is the Clerk and Recorders Election office. We can answer questions for them.” In addition, voters can find assistance online by searching for “my voter page Montana” that takes them to the Secretary of State web page for Montana. There, people can check on their voting status, voter registration address and the location or directions to the nearest polling place, according to Wyrick. The site address is https:// app.mt.gov/cgi-bin/voterinfo/ voterinfo.cgi . The page can also be reached by going to sosmt.gov and then to the my voter page, she said. “There is a lot of information to sort through when you go to the sosmt.gov page. It will allow them to put in their personal information – name as it is registered and date of birth. It will bring up your voter information and if you are registered to vote. “If you are inactive, you are not going to get a ballot,” she added.
Montana, Fallon County hit with COVID spikes Staff Report
Fallon County has fifteen positive cases of COVID-19, as of Oct. 6, according to the county health department. It is not alone. The entire state of Montana has been hit with a wave of positives, turning the Treasure State into a pandemic hot spot. The state has reported record numbers of COVID-19 cases, with the latest being Oct. 7, with 733 cases. That broke the previous record of 504 set on Oct. 6 and pushed the state into the more than 16,000 cases. That means the number of active cases in the state has more than doubled in the last two weeks, according to state officials. Two weeks ago, the state reported 2,335 as active cases. According to officials, there have been 2,276 cases reported since Oct. 1. In contrast, the state only reached 500 cases in June. The state has had slightly more than 10,000 people recover from the virus, while just under 5,000 are still classified as active. According to the state, 42 of the state’s 56 counties are now falling under the mask guidelines set by Gov. Steve Bullock earlier in the year. Fallon County has an average daily positive case level of 2.3 with an 82 per 100,000 population in the small rural county. Its trend for cases over the past 14 days has been a dramatic increase. According to the state, Fallon County has had a total of 24 active cases this year, with nine recovered and no confirmed deaths. By comparison, neighboring Carter County has an average daily case load of 0.4 and 34 per 100,000 population. Its 14-day trend is dropping from earlier highs. It has had a confirmed case total of nine this year with one recovered and eight still listed as active. Powder River County has an average daily case rate of 2.1 while 127 per 100,000 population. In that county, the 14-day trend is on a slight descent after an earlier dramatic climb.
To the north, Dawson County has an average of 2.2 daily positive cases and is at 25 per 100,000 population. Its 14-day trend is on the increase again after dropping to very low levels a week ago. Custer County to the west has 1.3 average daily positive cases and is at 12 per 100,000 population and is continuing a long descent over the past two weeks. Along the eastern edge of the state, Richland County has had 141 confirmed cases this year, with two deaths, 71 recovered and 68 still listed as active. Yellowstone hardest hit In the state, Yellowstone County has had the most impact with 3,691 confirmed cases this year and 69 deaths. There are 2,601 listed as recovered, while 1,021 are still listed as active. According to public health officials in Yellowstone County, the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases has put a strain on local resources. Over the previous three weeks have averaged more than 30 daily COVID infections with a high of 36 infections per day over the past week. That has prompted health officials to say that if the daily infection rate reaches 40 in the final week of October, there will be a more restrictive public health order issued in early November. If it hits 50 daily COVID-19 infects, the public health response will be immediate, according to officials at a press conference Monday. The new restrictions would include group gatherings being limited to just 25 people, regardless of social distancing. It would also limit capacity to just 25 percent in restaurants, bars, casinos and churches. The impact also elevated one Billings area medical facility to be elevated to red status on the county’s COVID-19 dashboard. According to state officials, 45 percent of the 96 people hospitalized in the county are residents of the county. Twenty-eight are in intensive care and 19 were on ventilators, as of Monday. Flathead County has had 1,511 confirmed cases, 19 deaths and 646 listed as recovered. It has 846 active cases listed on the state’s COVID-19 response site.
Masks, cleaning up part of new Wild Game Feed look
Staff Report
The 17th annual Stan Wagner Memorial Game Feed will be held Nov. 14 in the Livestock Barn at the Fallon County Fairgrounds. The game feed recently got approval from the Fallon County Health Department, as long as masking and social distancing is maintained, according to organizer Wendy Wagner. “We are still moving forward. We are just taking extra precautions,” she said. “You have to wear a mask when you come in. There will be hand sanitizers all over. When you come in, you will have to sanitize your hands. Basically, that is what the guidelines are for everybody. “You can set up in your pod and those tables will be six feet apart. You don’t have to wear a mask if you are seated at the table. But, if you are up walking around, you have to have a mask,” she explained. The actual feed will start at 4 p.m. and at 6 p.m. the kids’ games will start, she added. At 8 p.m., the adult games will begin, according to Wagner. The event is a free will donation. “There will be a wash station where the kids games are,” she said. “They will have to watch their hands before they play.” The menu for the game feed won’t be as exotic as in years past, she explained. “We will just have buffalo, steer, antelope and moose.” The biggest change has been adapting to the new COVID-19 guidelines, she said. People can look for updates on the status of the Stanley Wagner Memorial Wild Game Feed event on its Facebook page, she said.
COVID puts hold on Plevna sausage event A Pancake and Sausage Supper has long been a staple as a fundraiser for the Plevna Volunteer Fire Department. But not in 2020. The pandemic has forced some changes. First the supper was canceled. Then the sausage making. “Due to the recent increase in COVID cases in our area, the Plevna Volunteer Fire Department has chosen to cancel sausage making this year, the group announced on its Face-
book page Oct. 1. “Our priority is always the health and safety of our community, and we feel this is how we can best contribute, the Facebook post continued. Just two days earlier, the department had announced “Our sausage has sold out! To try and be fair to everyone that would like some, and had pre-ordered, we will be limiting to 30 pounds per person. Sausage will be sold on a first come first served basis!” on the Facebook page.
Sady Harbaugh and Kyler Afrank crowned as this year’s Homecoming Queen and King.