One provisional ballot may decide the Montana House's composition
The Billings Gazette reports: The provisional vote of a mentally handicapped elector who works at a sheltered workshop in Ronan could change the results of Tuesday's House District 12 race, where Constitution Party candidate Rick Jore now leads Democrat Jeanne Windham by a mere one vote.
The leadership of the House of Representatives hangs in the balance. If Windham wins, the House would be split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, allowing the newly elected Democratic governor to name the House speaker. If Jore wins, the House leadership will remain Republican.
Lake County election officials will meet today at 3 p.m. in the courthouse in Polson to determine which of the 33 provisional ballots cast in the HD 12 race will be counted in Tuesday's canvas of the election.
The handicapped elector's vote is likely to be one of the few provisional votes cast in the HD12 race that will be counted. At least 25 are expected to be rejected because the voters were not residents who registered to vote in Lake County.
The competency of the mentally handicapped elector was challenged by an election judge when the man went to vote. He was unable to sign the registration card legibly himself, so a sheltered workshop case manager did so for him. -- Provisional vote may swing election - billingsgazette.com