Primary ballots out this week for mail-in voting

Lincoln election judge Bonnie Shown reminded area residents they will have to mail in their ballots for the upcoming June 2 primary election.

Shown, speaking briefly at the May 1 Lincoln Government Day listening session, said residents who receive absentee ballots often drop them off at the Community Hall polling place, but she said they won't be able to do that this year, since there will be no local polling this year due to COVID-19 related restrictions.

"We won't be here," she said.

All voting in the upcoming primary will be done via mail. Ballots are scheduled to be mailed out May 8 and, unlike absentee ballots, voters can return them without having to pay postage.

Lewis and Clark County Commissioner Susan Good Geise, urged voters to get their ballots mailed in early, but also to take the time to research the candidates on the ballot.

"The decision you make, particularly in the aftermath of COVID, is really going to be important. We're going to be looking at a new way of doing business maybe, so you want to make sure to be electing people of the right temperament."

Geise will be leaving the commission this year and noted that Lewis and Clark County-level elections are now non-partisan. She said four people have filed to fill the seat she is vacating and they will all appear on both the Democrat and Republic primary ballots. The two top vote getters will go on to the general election in the fall.

The candidates include Tom Rolfe, Mike Fasbender, Brady Christensen and Tyrel Suzor-Hoy, all from Helena.

Gov. Steve Bullock authorized counties to conduct an all mail-in primary in March. Every county in the state chose to do so. Plans don't call for the extension of mail-in voting to November's general election, but that could change, depending on the COVID-19 situation in the fall.

Geise, who had planned to retire, is now the Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by incumbent Steve Daines, a Republican.