We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Following Election Day on November 7, Savannah Wendeln, Blaine County Election Manager and Grant Coordinator, reported that Blaine County had staffed nine precincts within five polling locations throughout the county.
Voters in Precinct 1 on the Big Flat reported to Turner Public School for voting; whereas, voters in Precinct 8 (Harlem) voted at Harlem High School. Both of these polling locations were open from noon until 8:00 p.m. Meanwhile, voters in Precincts 3 (North Belknap) and 9 (South Harlem) had access to voting from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Red Whip Center Gym. With similar hours, Precincts 10 (South Blaine), 11 (Chinook), and 13 (North Blaine) voted at Chinook High School, and Precinct 15 (South Belknap) saw its voters casting ballots at the John Capture Center. All sites had Accessibility Designation.
“I believe we had an 82.7% return rate on our absentee ballots with a total of 2316 being returned and accepted for counting. We had an extremely low rate of rejection due to missing or signature mismatches and undeliverable ballots this election,” Wendeln stated.
The total number of ballots counted was 3017. This total reflects votes from both absentee ballots and those from the five polling locations. The ballots counted from each precinct reveal voter engagement:
• Precinct 1 (Big Flat): 268
• Precinct 3 (North Belknap): 426
• Precinct 8 (Harlem): 358
• Precinct 9 (South Harlem): 184
• Precinct 10 (South Blaine): 444
• Precinct 11 (Chinook): 668
• Precinct 13 (North Blaine): 126
• Precinct 15 (South Belknap): 543
Anyone reading carefully and counting will likely wonder why eight precincts are reported and nine precincts were staffed. Wendeln explains: “Precinct 15 has two splits but is one precinct as far as voting numbers go. The split is for HD 31 & 32 which bisects the lower portion of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. This was a part of the legislative redistricting that happened in 2023 and was effective for the 2024 election cycle. Some of my reports have them split and some don’t, but they are combined to make Precinct 15 totals.”
