A new election law that requires voters to write in their birth year on the back of their return envelope may be contributing to a higher number of ballots being rejected by county election officials.
Yellowstone County Election Administrator Dayna Causby is joining a chorus of county election officials around Montana, reminding voters to double-check return envelopes before mailing them.
“The birth year is now a requirement on the return ballot envelope,” said Causby. “So underneath their signature, after they sign their ballot and date their signature, they also need to include their birth year. This is a new law that began on October first.”
Causby estimated that some 400 ballots have been rejected in Yellowstone County as of Tuesday for a missing or mismatched signature or lack of birth year.
She said election administrators will try to reach out by email, or letter or phone call to voters whose ballots have been rejected.
“Voters can remedy that by completing a form. Those forms or that remedy needs to be into our office by 5pm on the day after the election,” Causby said.
Voters can check the status of their ballot by visiting the My Voter Portal at mt.gov/voterportal.
Ballots must be received at the county election office by 8pm on Election Day, November 4.
This general election in Yellowstone County is by mail ballot only and regular polling places will not be open on November 4th.
