Rocky Boy seeks satellite voting office

The Chippewa Cree Tribe has sent letters to the clerk and recorder’s offices in both Hill and Chouteau counties, requesting the establishment of temporary satellite voting offices on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, ahead of this year’s primary and general elections.

Such offices would be operated by each county and used to provide those living on the reservation and in surrounding area, access to late voter registration and in-person absentee voting services.

Ken St. Marks, chair of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, signed and sent the letters Thursday to Hill and Chouteau counties, where the nearly 108,000 acre reservation is located.

“The Chippewa Cree Tribe has determined that a satellite voting office is needed to provide the required access that the Tribe is entitled to under the Voting Rights Act,” St. Marks said in the letters.

The letters asked that both counties respond to the requests by Feb 12.

Under a directive issued by Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch in October, all counties with an American Indian reservation must work with tribes to determine if such a satellite office is necessary to protect those residents' access to late voter registration and in-person absentee ballot services, if such an office is requested by the tribe.

An analysis conducted by county election administrators will determine if such offices will improve access to the voting process in accordance with the Voting Rights Act.

St. Marks said that many on Rocky Boy lack access to transportation needed to make the lengthy trip to the Hill County Courthouse in Havre. For the small number of residents who live in the part of the reservation located in Chouteau County, the county courthouse in Fort Benton can be cumbersome for voters to access as well.

Meanwhile, he said residents of Havre and other communities closer to Havre and Fort Benton have easy access to late voter registration and absentee voting.

The same argument was made by plaintiffs in Wandering Medicine v McCulloch, a suit brought against McCulloch as well as Blaine, Bighorn and Rosebud counties by residents on the Fort Belknap, Crow and Lame Deer reservations.

A settlement was reached in 2014, where the three counties in 2012 would have to establish such offices if requested by the tribe and if the tribe met certain other requirements.

Hill County Clerk and Recorder Susan Armstrong confirmed she received the letter and that it was too soon to say what the next steps would be. She said that the county would be consulting with County Attorney Gina Dahl to find out how they will respond.

Armstrong did say however, that setting up such offices would cost the county “substantial” money.

Armstrong said the county does not have on-demand voting technology that allows ballots from multiple locations to be counted simultaneously.

Therefore, Armstrong said, the county will have to move its offices, equipment and personnel to the reservation on the days the satellite offices are open.

Under the settlement in the Wandering Medicine suit, the agreement stipulates that all election services will not be provided at the courthouse when offered at the satellite offices.

St. Marks and Armstrong confirmed that the tribe will be responsible for selecting a facility on the reservation where the office would be housed and equipped with telephone coverage and hard-wired Internet.

The Chouteau County Clerk and Recorder's office said it too has received a letter from the Chippewa Cree requesting such an office. Officials said that many of the details have yet to be worked out.

“We will be contacting and working with them to come up with the best possible solution for providing a satellite office on the reservation,” Lana Classen, Chouteau County Clerk and Recorder said.

Like Hill County, Choteau County lacks on-demand voting technology. However, Classen said the county might be able to keep their election offices at the courthouse open while simultaneously operating an office on the reservation.

She said officials could accept ballots and keep in contact with their main office by phone or email, where the results would be entered manually.