JOHNSON: 56 COUNTY TOUR FINISHED

HELENA—Today Secretary of State Brad Johnson announced that he had completed his effort to meet with election officials in all 56 Montana counties.

“Montana’s elections are among the cleanest, fairest in the country,” Johnson said. “County Clerks and Recorders and Election Administrators are on the front lines of keeping them that way. It’s my job to hear their concerns and respond to their needs. Doing so was not just educational, but a pleasure. County election officials asked for more communication with this office, and these visits certainly accomplished that.”

Johnson pledged in 2007 to visit with every county elections office before the primary.  The tour began with Clerk and Recorder Mary McMahon of Butte-Silver Bow County, and concluded today with Clerk and Recorder Paulette DeHart of Lewis and Clark County.

Johnson listed HAVA funding, additional training and recruiting election judges as concerns the election administrators voiced to him during the meetings. He said he had addressed those concerns by meeting with the Montana Congressional delegation to request additional HAVA funding and setting up regional training sessions for election officials. Included in the regional training the Secretary of State's office conducted was a session on election judge recruitment and retention.

Johnson reported that "the brainstorming session on election judge recruitment and retention brought out many innovative ideas to assist election administrators in finding and retaining good, civic-minded poll workers."  He added, "Election judges are appointed by county commissioners 30 days before an election.  I encourage any citizen interested in serving as a poll worker on election day to contact the local election office and find out what their needs are, and how they can help."

Another concern voiced by election officials is late registration. Johnson said his office launched a campaign of public service announcements to encourage early voter registration in direct response to feedback from election administrators. 

###