'A communist move': Lawsuit threatened over removal of county clerk's election duties

Supporters of Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant asked the Cascade County Commission on Friday to reverse its decision to remove election duties from her, saying they may sue the county for making the change.

“We’re gonna have to pay a lot of money to sue you, so thank you for making me sue my county,” said Julie Bass, who has worked closely with the Elections Office during Merchant’s tenure. “This was a communist move, to take our right to vote away.”

Commissioner Joe Briggs told the Daily Montanan the county takes comments about lawsuits seriously, but is secure in the county attorney’s legal analysis finding they’ve done nothing illegal. Briggs said the facts haven’t changed and therefore he’s not considering rescinding the resolution at this time.

Commissioners met Friday to begin discussions about selecting both an interim and then permanent elections administrator after voting 2-1 to rescind Merchant’s elections duties earlier this week. No selection was made nor names brought up as suggestions – the conversation will continue at a meeting on Tuesday.

The commission heard the calls to rescind the resolution during public comment prior to the end of the meeting. Fourteen people commented at the meeting following a full house earlier in the week when the commission took up the resolution.

Commissioner Rae Grulkowski, a Merchant ally, was the sole commissioner to vote against the resolution taking the election duties away from the Clerk and Recorder’s office, saying it wasn’t necessary. Other commissioners, James Larson and Briggs, said Wednesday their reasons for the resolution were what they saw as a need for a nonpartisan individual to serve as administrator and because of the lawsuits filed against the county for errors in past elections under Merchant.

There was some residual tension following the heated meeting Tuesday, with Briggs telling chatty audience members to simmer down.

“This is a meeting, people. If you want to go to a playground, please go outside,” Briggs said.

Someone responded Briggs needed to “be respectful of us too, Joe,” to which he immediately apologized.

But commissioners seemed largely to be amicable amongst each other, with one resident comparing their cooperation to a “Christmas miracle.”

Briggs told the Daily Montanan commissioners agree more than they disagree, “and we need to focus on that.

“We need to put the animosity behind and get the elections department up and running again.”

In response to emailed questions, Merchant said it was obvious to her Briggs and Larson had their minds made up before the meeting Tuesday and said she would have liked to see more public meetings before the decision was made.

“The people of the county now have to suffer the consequences of this baseless and unprecedented vendetta. It leaves County elections in the lurch and makes Cascade County look like a joke,” Merchant said.

Merchant confirmed she will be continuing in her role as Clerk and Recorder with these adjusted duties, but said it “remains to be seen” if she’ll be taking any action in response to the decision.

Commissioners and county officials still need to sort out plenty of details – like how the county will address resident needs from the Elections Office while an interim administrator is being selected, how to assist candidates meeting upcoming filing deadlines with the Secretary of State, as well as an issue deemed by one on-looker as “bucket gate.”

Commissioners and county officials expressed some confusion over why county maintenance allegedly acquired a bucket full of keys, including to where the vote tabulator is stored, from Merchant’s office when county officials requested to have her keys returned.

Neither Briggs, Larson, nor Public Works Administrator Les Payne said they were aware of the bucket of keys, an issue raised by Grulkowski. Briggs told the Daily Montanan the locks will be changed for the various county buildings, including the ExpoPark, so it’s clear who has access moving forward.

Commissioners also discussed storage of ballots from the 2020 election, preserved at the request of Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls, according to Briggs.

Briggs said the ballots were stored at Sheldon-Galloway’s request as the legislature might have wanted to examine them, but with the legislative session over and the destruction date long past, it’s time to consider destroying them.

Grulkowski also made clear she didn’t want to see a pay drop for Merchant with the enforcement of the resolution. Briggs said a reduction wouldn’t be legal so is not being considered.

During public comment, Svetlana Pinocci, wife of Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci and elections office staff member, said staff found it “intimidating” human resources asked how many staff members planned to remain working there without Merchant.

Resident Jan Wenaas asked commissioners to rescind the resolution and said she was concerned about the “muddiness” of the processes and what she perceived as a county “takeover” by Briggs.

“I am so disappointed in the other two county commissioners that just feel that they have all the power and to do what they want,” she said. “And it’s really interesting because they are supposed to be Republican.”

The commission is scheduled to meet again to resume the discussion at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comment from Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant.

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