Cass County election coordinator Maurice Dullea takes an absentee ballot that was accepted by the county Canvassing Board on Nov. 18, 2024, in Fargo. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
(Jeff Beach and Mary Steurer – North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe on Monday called the general election performance of a key partner — the U.S. Postal Service — “very much improved” over the primary election.
North Dakota canvassing boards met Monday to finalize results from the Nov. 5 general election. Results are to become official on Wednesday.
Mail-in ballots without a postmark were an issue in the June primary, but Howe had received assurances from the Postal Service that an all-hands-on-deck policy for the general election should result in fewer missed postmarks.
Mark Splonskowski, the Burleigh County auditor, estimated that the county received fewer than a dozen absentee ballots without postmarks for the general election. For the June primary, the county had received 58.
In both cases, the Burleigh County Canvassing Board voted to accept the ballots.
Cass County, which accounted for nearly 25% of the vote in North Dakota, had 20 ballots without postmarks. Some of those ballots were not accepted, but not because the ballots lacked a postmark.
More North Dakota voters cast ballots by early or mail-in voting than on Election Day. But not all ballots are received by Election Day.
In Cass County, 89 ballots arrived by mail but were postmarked after the Nov. 4 deadline.
The Cass County Canvassing Board started its meeting Monday by going through absentee ballots that had been postmarked before Nov. 5 but arrived after Election Day.
The board voted to reject some absentee ballots because the signature on the absentee ballot application was not a close match to the signature on the ballot envelope.
“If you’re perhaps in a hurry, you say, ‘my wife can sign for that. No big deal.’ Yes, it is a big deal, because then your ballot won’t count,” Howe said, offering one scenario for signatures that don’t match.
Cass County does contact those voters to let them know that their ballot was rejected.
One issue identified by the North Dakota League of Women Voters was confusion over when voters, especially college students, can cast a ballot to be set aside so the address or eligibility of the voter can be verified.
“We had some questions about that, too,” Howe said. “We will work with our county auditors on that process.”
In Cass County, there were 498 ballots that were set aside on Election Day. The votes are people who cast ballots without the proper identification or proof of residency.
Those voters had until the start of Monday’s meeting to prove that they are an eligible voter, but only 46 chose to do so — meaning 452 ballots were rejected.
Donnell Preskey, government and public relations specialist with the North Dakota Association of Counties, said it’s important to let voters know that setting aside their ballot is an option for them, but emphasize that it means that their ballot doesn’t get counted that day.
Preskey said it’s hard to know why voters don’t follow through on getting that ballot counted.
“Did they not want to take that extra step? Or did they not have the information that they needed to show that they were an eligible voter?” she said.
Howe said it’s important for college students to know that their student ID is not proof of residency if their driver’s license still lists their hometown address.
Voting absentee in their home county or having their address changed after voting with a set-aside ballot are options.
Overall, Howe was happy with how voting went in North Dakota.
“You always prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and definitely, we got closer to the best than the worst,” Howe said.
Preskey had praise for the Secretary of State’s Office and the communication with county auditors that run the local elections.
“The guidance and education the Secretary of State’s Office provided throughout the year has been incredible,” she said.
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