On behalf of the Blaine County electorate, Tammy Williams, Blaine County Clerk and Recorder, and Savannah Wendeln, the Deputy Clerk and Recorder, presented Ordinance 202l-01 at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Blaine County Commissioners on June 8. Due to no motion's being made, what was intended as an action-item died before the proposal had a chance to reach the voters of Blaine County.

The first reading of Ordinance 202l-01, an ordinance approving a ballot question on the issue of whether to allow non-partisan elections, appeared on the Blaine County Commissioners' monthly meeting agenda. After Chair, Frank DePriest read the ordinance, he called for a motion, but neither Commissioner Miles Hutton nor Commissioner Dolores Plumage made such a motion. As the Meeting Chair, DePriest could present the issue but not propose a motion.

"Without a motion, the Election Department couldn't proceed. The Nonpartisan Ordinance was essentially voted down by the Commissioners," Wendeln explained. "But we don't think two people should be able to make a decision for the entire county."

Both Election Department officials reported that they presented the issue based on beliefs that serving Blaine County shouldn't be a partisan practice. "Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat has no real bearing on how you perform as the treasurer or the clerk and recorder, for example," Wendeln said. "Our office had the support of five elected officials at the meeting, as well as a couple of other community members who expressed interest that this ordinance appear on the ballot for the decision of voters."

House Bill 129 (HB129) from the 66th Legislative Session in 2019 gave authority to the commissioners of any given county to consider a proposal to switch from partisan elections to nonpartisan elections, or vice-versa, by putting the issue to voters.

Sixteen counties in Montana currently hold nonpartisan elections for the purpose of electing county officials. These are listed, followed by their county seats in parentheses: Big Horn (Hardin), Broadwater (Townsend), Carbon (Red Lodge), Custer (Miles City), Deer Lodge (Anaconda), Fergus (Lewistown), Garfield (Jordan), Jefferson (Boulder), Lewis and Clark (Helena), Madison (Virginia City), Park (Livingston), Petroleum (Winnett), Roosevelt (Wolf Point), Sanders (Thompson Falls), Silver Bow (Butte), and Valley (Glasgow).

Wendeln explained that in a nonpartisan election, all candidates file for office without designating a political party. If three or more candidates file, a primary is held, and the top two finishers move on to the general election. If fewer people file, a primary election is not needed, and all the candidates would appear on the general election ballot.

In a nonpartisan election, if a primary is held, it is not for the purpose of narrowing the candidates to one from each party; rather, the top two candidates, regardless of party, advance to the general election. At both the primary and general elections, the candidates are listed on the ballot without a designation of any party affiliation.

In the case of a primary, State and Federal partisan ballots display all the nonpartisan county races-such as that for judges, who currently run with no party affiliation. This practice allows all registered voters, regardless of political affiliation, to have a voice in electing county officials. However, in a partisan primary election, if two candidates file for a county office on the same political party ticket, only the voters that choose that party ballot will have a say in who is potentially elected.

Because taxpayers fund primary elections, local election officials believe that all voters should get to vote in the primary. Under the current practice, partisan elections can skew results. To reflect the impact of political party designation, the Election Office shared the following statistics, which indicate how partisan elections can limit voting. Only 13% of registered voters elected the Clerk of Court in the 2020 Primary Election. Likewise, 13% of registered voters in Commissioner District #1 elected their commissioner in the 2014 Primary Election, and 14% of registered voters elected the County Attorney in the 2006 Primary Election.

While some believe that political parties are irrelevant to providing services, others wonder whether the absence of party labels might confuse voters. As a means of explaining partisan versus nonpartisan elections, the National League of Cities suggests that Party labels can be a quick way for voters to identify candidates who share their policy preferences.

Without a Party designation, which for some voters provides a meaningful basis in casting a ballot, a voter must choose from among a group of candidates about whom he or she may know nothing. Under such circumstances, voters will typically turn to whatever cue is available, which research into voting practices reveals often turns out to be the ethnicity or the gender of a candidate's name.

Besides making voting more difficult, taking party labels away and holding nonpartisan elections might possibly undermine the potential for popular control. Non-partisanship elections, say opponents, tend to produce elected officials who are more representative of the upper socioeconomic strata than of the general populace, thereby intensifying class bias in voting.

Blaine County Election Department officials stressed that whether an individual votes partisan or nonpartisan, Democrat, Republican, or Independent, it is important to do research into the candidates who will appear on the ballot. Although nonpartisan candidates are not required to have membership in a political party, candidates may still seek endorsement from a political party.

Some of the other talking points Wendeln prepared for the meeting included how nonpartisan elections eliminate blind, straight-ticket voting where uninformed voters simply bow to their parties. They also permit candidates to define themselves as individuals, responding to local issues.

"The duties of county elected officials are about following state law, so there is not always room for taking a partisan stand. The work of local governments is about its people, not its parties," she stated.

Currently, when an elected position is vacated in term, the departing party nominates candidates as replacements. County Commissioners then choose from among those nominees. In a nonpartisan county, any resident would be allowed to apply to fill the position, and the commissioners would select a replacement from among those applicants. This allows for a public process and enables anyone with a willingness to serve to apply.

"Our primary purpose here is to educate the electorate," Wendeln said. "Our office believes it is in the best interest of Blaine County to present such a question to the voters. So, we proposed Ordinance 2021-01 to the Blaine County Board of County Commissioners, asking them to place the question on the ballot for the November 2, 2021 election. That didn't happen. Yet, we believe that whether to allow nonpartisan elections for electing county officials should be decided by voters."

If Ordinance 2021-01 ever reaches the balloting process for the voters' decision, it would affect elections for the offices of County Commissioner District 1; County Commissioner District 2; County Commissioner District 3; County Attorney; County Sheriff-Coroner; School Superintendent; District Court Clerk; County Treasurer, and County Clerk and Recorder/Assessor.