Montana’s overseas voting system fixed after error leaves Harris off ballot

(Daily Montanan) — Military and overseas voters can once again vote through the state’s Electronic Absentee System after the Montana Secretary of State’s Office corrected an error that left Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz off the ballot.

Friday, the Secretary of State’s Office took down the system that some military and overseas voters use to cast their ballot for several hours while vendors fixed the system after the office was notified of the omission.

Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s office issued a news release Monday morning that started with the assertion: “No, Montana did not leave a candidate off the 2024 General Election ballot.”

The Daily Inter Lake first reported the issue with the Electronic Absentee System on Friday afternoon, saying a Flathead County voter living in the United Kingdom had logged on to the absentee overseas ballot system on Friday and noticed the presidential race only contained Republican Donald Trump and Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as options.

The story noted that Jacobsen’s office was fixing the error with a vendor and that it would be rectified by later in the day. Friday was the first day that military and overseas voters from Montana could start voting in the November election.

The news spread on social media during the weekend as some people, including many from outside Montana, alleged that Jacobsen had intended to leave Harris and Walz off the ballot.

Her office on Monday said that was “egregious misinformation,” explained that Jacobsen had certified qualified candidates, including Harris and Walz, for the ballot in August. Later in the afternoon, her office sent out links to stories fact-checking claims that Harris’s name was “removed” from the ballot.

In the news release Monday, Jacobsen’s office said election officials were notified that the Electronic Absentee System had an issue shortly after 8 a.m. on Friday. It said it took the EAS system offline and worked with a vendor to troubleshoot the issue and correct it.

“By Friday afternoon, the system was back online and available to eligible UOCAVA voters, including those few voters who may have been impacted,” the release said. “No ballots were affected, including those that will be sent to registered absentee voters and those that will be presented to voters at the polling place on Election Day.”

Secretary of State’s Office spokesperson Richie Melby said the office had received one report from Flathead County and that the system was taken offline in the morning and was back online by Friday afternoon. Melby said that voter had been contacted and “no further action is required.”

That voter is Max Himsl, a plumber who moved to the United Kingdom two and a half years ago with his wife, both of whom vote in Flathead County.

Himsl said in an interview Monday the two are currently on vacation in France and were checking their email last Friday when they noticed the notification from the Secretary of State’s Office notifying both they could cast their ballot through the EAS portal.

“First question, right out the bat, was the presidential election, and it was just like, ‘Hold on, that’s not right,’” Himsl said. “And my wife, she went through all the other races and there were all the Democrats – they all looked fine. But not the big one.”

He said he immediately called the Flathead County Election Department to tell them about the issue. Himsl said the person he spoke with told him others had called as well.

Melby said the office received an email from a county official that had said a voter had told them about the issue, which led to the office taking the system offline.

Himsl showed the Daily Montanan an email sent by a Flathead County elections specialist to him informing all Flathead County overseas voters that the office had “received reports” regarding the issue, told the Secretary of State’s Office, and that Jacobsen’s office was taking “immediate action” to resolve the issue. The Flathead County Election Department did not return a message seeking clarification on Friday’s timeline of events on Monday.

But others the Daily Montanan spoke with on Monday said they had directly heard from more people in other counties who had the same issue when trying to vote from overseas on Friday. Pat Dawson said he had friends living in Asia who are voters in Liberty County and had told him about the same issue. And Connor Fitzpatrick, the election division supervisor for Lewis and Clark County, said he also received calls from voters on Friday morning about Harris’s name not appearing.

But by that time, he said, the Secretary of State’s Office was already working on taking the portal down. He said the Lewis and Clark County elections office contacted those voters after the issues were fixed to let them know the site was back up and running.

“They sent out a mass email going, ‘Hey, there’s an issue here. We’re gonna pull it down for a minute and make sure that we get it all taken care of,’” Fitzpatrick said.

Himsl said he and his wife successfully used the system to cast their ballots on Saturday.

“It was startling, but I’m glad they got it fixed quickly. But it kind of upsets me that – how did that happen in the first place?” he said. “… And did they not, like, test the system in the last week?”

Melby did not answer a question Monday about what happened that led to Harris’s and Walz’s names not being available initially on the ballot in the ESA system.

Himsl said he was happy the office fixed the issue but felt the Secretary of State’s Office’s news release downplayed how many people it affected because others had reported the error as well.

“I don’t see the harm in saying, ‘This happened, there was an issue. Luckily, it was picked up right away; we apologize for it,’” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with saying that and owning a mistake, that maybe someone dropped the ball or there was a bug in the system.”

Friday’s mailing of ballots to overseas and military voters and the opening of the ESA portal marked the beginning of voting in the November election. Other absentee voters will have their ballots mailed out on Oct. 11, and polls will open on Nov. 5 at 7 a.m. for people who vote in person.

Jacobsen’s office in Monday’s news release said voters should rely only on “trusted sources for credible election information,” including her office and the 56 county election offices.

“The Secretary of State’s Office appreciates the vendor’s quick troubleshooting and resolution,” the release said. “The Montana Elections Team is grateful to our Montana military members serving abroad, and we’re honored to serve them, their families, and overseas voters.”