Today, on Election Day, November 5th, John Lamb, Libertarian candidate running for the Secretary of State of Montana, sent out the following Press Release concerning shenanigans that took place in Powell County, Montana.
Whether the mistake was intentional or not (meaning listing Libertarian candidates at Non-Partisan’s, is yet to be seen.
“It was brought to my attention Sunday that some Libertarian candidates were listed on the ballot in Powell County, Montana, as non-partisan instead of Libertarian. I personally found this concerning. If this simple mistake happened in one county, could it also have happened in other counties? Are there other mistakes on our ballots in Montana?
A party must receive a certain percentage of votes to be allowed to maintain ballot access. This simple mistake could cost the Libertarians ballot access in future elections. It could also sway the election by deceiving people to vote or not to vote for a candidate because of a party name listed or not listed.
If this is isolated in Powell County only, it is unlikely to change a statewide election. It definitely could change a local election, depending on how close the race is between the candidates.
First thing Monday morning, I made a call to the Powell County Clerk and Election Officer, and I was directed to talk to the Secretary of State’s office. A legal advisor with the Secretary of State’s office returned my call. He informed me that it was too late to recall the ballots at this point, being only a day or two before the election. But, this would be an issue that I would have to decide on whether to file a grievance with Powell County District Court after the election.
I hear it from Republicans all the time: Libertarians are election spoilers. Libertarians will never get into office. Libertarians only take votes away from Republicans. In just this last session, Montana Republicans tried to remove Libertarians from the ballot access by changing the rules. That would either make it impossible for Libertarians to gain ballot access or disqualify them from being on the ballot.
What if this happened to the Republicans?
It would be a big deal to Republicans if their party name was omitted or substituted on the ballot. How could voters vote all Red if there were some parties missing the party affiliation? The same goes for the Democrat Party voters.
At this point, I have more questions than answers, and I have no remedy until after the election, when every vote has been cast and counted.”
Sincerely, Candidate for Secretary of State-John Lamb
