It’s been a rocky start to the election season. The state of Montana was forced to shut down its electronic absentee voter system after it went live on Sept. 20, 2024, when a voter reported there was no option to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
According to the Daily Inter Lake, a Montana voter in the United Kingdom first reported the issue
after noticing he couldn’t cast his ballot for Harris on the online system. Montana voter Max Himsl stated he only saw Republican Donald Trump and Independent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., on the ballot. He reported the discrepancy to the Flathead County Election Department in Kalispell.“I’m upset my democratic process was interrupted,” Himsl told the outlet.
Montana’s Electronic Absentee System allows eligible voters to cast their ballots online 45 days before Election Day. The mistake was reportedly limited to the electronic absentee system.
Secretary of State Christi Jacobson took down the Electronic Absentee System out of an abundance of caution.
“Our team and the vendor quickly investigated and found that only a few voters may have been impacted,” the Secretary of State’s Office told the international outlet in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office told Newsweek, “On Friday morning, our office received a report of a ballot not displaying properly for a UOCAVA voter –- which defines eligible military and overseas citizens.
The spokesperson adds, “As mentioned, the system was taken offline in the morning for troubleshooting with the vendor, and it was back online in the afternoon. The potentially impacted UOCAVA voter who submitted a ballot has since been contacted, and no further action is required. Vice President Kamala Harris and all certified candidates appear on Montana’s ballots.”
The error has come as more states roll out early voting in Virginia, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
RELATED CONTENT: 105-Year-Old Black Woman Who First Voted in 1964 Casts Early Ballot in Georgia