Clerk says voter ‘confirmation cards’ will soon be in the mail
by Michael Howell
An official population census is taken every 10 years. Based on the new population data the legislature’s Districting and Apportionment Committee redraws House and Senate voting districts throughout the state and releases new maps. According to Regina Plettenberg, Ravalli County Clerk & Recorder and Elections Administrator, the Board of County Commissioners took a look at those maps to see what changes in the voting precincts have been made.
“The precincts did not change a lot,” said Plettenberg, “but they changed some, especially in the north end of the valley.”
Based on the new census data, Ravalli County is adding a new precinct in the City of Hamilton, raising the total number of precincts in the county from 24 to 25. According to Plettenberg, the result is that precinct boundaries in Hamilton and precincts to the north have all shifted a bit. In response to these changes, her office is sending out confirmation cards to all active voters to inform the voters what precinct they are in. Despite the changes in precinct boundaries, the county’s polling places have not changed. They remain in the same places, that is in every school in the valley, except in the Pinesdale area where the polling place remains at Town Hall.
Within the next week or two, she said, voters should be receiving a confirmation card in the mail confirming the precinct in which they vote. It will also indicate whether they are on the voter ‘absentee list’ or not. She said it is very important for voters who have requested mail-in ballots and are on the absentee list that they examine the voter information on the card and determine that the information is correct. Those voters not on the absentee list are registered at the polls.
“If any information on the card is incorrect,” she said, “from the spelling of the name or the address or any other information, we ask that you contact us sooner rather than later and not wait until just before the election.”
Any changes can be submitted in writing at the county Clerk and Recorder’s Office in Hamilton or submitted online at www.ravalli.gov. on the voter registration page.