BILLINGS — More than 700 of the 17,743 early votes cast in Yellowstone County have been rejected due to voters not listing their birth year next to their signature on the envelope.
The requirement to list the birth year is new, after the 2025 Montana Legislature passed a bill sponsored by state by Rep. Braxton Mitchell of Columbia Falls.
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As of Tuesday, all of those votes have been set aside, and Yellowstone County Election Administrator Dayna Causby said her office is closely monitoring them.
"These numbers, like we said, change constantly," Causby said Tuesday afternoon. "We are still entering in our rejected ballots into the system."
Causby said there are about 880 votes that have been rejected. The majority of those are due to the lack of birth year, but a significant amount have other problems.
"Eighty percent of the 880 ballots that we show as rejected at this moment is from not showing the birth year," Causby said. "The other 20 percent are either from not including a signature and the birth year or a signature mismatch."
Causby said that her office is actively working to contact those voters who had their ballots rejected in advance of Election Day on Nov. 4.
"We are taking the extra steps of finding voters' contact information, whether that be by phone or by email or both," Causby said.
Causby said that all voters have until 5 p.m. the day after the election to resolve problems with the ballot. That means submitting paperwork and a photo ID by mail, email or in person.
The new law was made in an effort to increase voter security, according to Mitchell. Causby said that some voters are frustrated by the extra step.
“Some of the public is completely happy with the situation, and some members are not as excited about this particular new law,” Causby said.
Regardless, Causby said that her office is focused on making sure that every voice is heard.
"The entirety of my job is that all eligible ballots that can count is counted," Causby said.
