Group finds errors on county election Web sites

  Until Friday, the Web site for the Gallatin County Elections Office gave the wrong date for Election Day and didn’t explain that people could register to vote up to the same day as the election. 

   The site has since been changed to provide accurate information, but the errors were among several the Montana Conservation Voters found during a recent review of eight county election Web sites across the state. 

   Missoula and Cascade counties had Web sites that were problem free, according to the group. The other six counties — Flathead, Gallatin, Butte-Silverbow, Lewis and Clark, Park and Yellowstone counties — all had at least one thing wrong with them. 

   Gallatin County was rated has having “one of the worst” sites because it hadn’t been updated since the 2006 elections, provided an out-of-date voter registration card for downloading and didn’t explain that people could still register to vote even if they missed the traditional registration cutoff date of 30 days before the election. 

   Gallatin County Clerk and Recorder Charlotte Mills had the Web site updated Friday after being contacted by the Chronicle for the story. It now gives the correct date of Nov. 6 for Election Day and provides information about elections in each of the communities in the county. 

   Mills said the county uses a special software program called Town Hall to update the Web site, and she hadn’t got around to informing the person trained to use the software to make the changes. 

   “I think it is becoming more critical because more and more people are using the Internet to find information,” she said when asked about the importance of the Web in getting out election information. 

   Montana Conservation Voters took a look at election Web sites because one of its missions is encouraging voter participation, said David Ellenberger, the organization’s communications director. The organization supports sameday voter registration. 

   “Our main interest is getting people involved in the process and having their voices heard in the political system,” Ellenberger said. 

   The organization looked at elections Web sites in every county where it has a chapter, Ellenberger said. 

   Park County also was rated one of the worst because it does not have any 2007 election information nor any information about how to register to vote. 

   Other county Web sites didn’t explain that people could still register to vote after the 30-day deadline. People who register late must do so in person at their local elections office. 

   The Montana secretary of state’s office oversees elections throughout the state, and sends out information about how to conduct elections, but it doesn’t tell counties how to run their Web sites, said Bowen Greenwood, communications director for the office. 

   “What we do is we send out directives about what the law says,” Greenwood said. “ ... I don’t think anybody would want the state telling counties what to put on their Web sites, but we sure do try to help them out as much as we can.”