BILLINGS— The Yellowstone County elections office sent out about 2,000 ballots with the wrong barcode on the return envelope, causing some to be routed to a post office instead of directly to the elections office.
Election Administrator Dayna Causby told MTN her office is at fault, having sent out old envelopes that staff believed were still usable.
"All of our post offices here in Montana talk closely with each other. We're not the only county who did realize that some of our ballots had incorrect return barcode information," Causby said Tuesday.
Related; 'A Lot of Extra Work’: Volunteers Fix Thousands of Misprinted Ballot Envelopes
Gallatin County had the same problem, with misprints on more than 62,000 ballot envelopes, which the county corrected in April with the help of volunteers.
Causby said most envelopes with the mistake should have stayed within Yellowstone County, delaying delivery by about a day. Montana state law does not allow counting of ballots received after Election Day.
“As long as the ballot was mailed within the city limits, we received it back the very next day,” said Causby.
Voters can check their voting status online at the Montana Voter Portal.
