North Dakota
Before the real voting, there’s the trial run • North Dakota Monitor
Bob Henderson, the director of information technology in Cass County, called it one of the most important but most tedious parts of election preparation — testing the machines that tabulate the votes.
Before voting begins, the vote tabulators are fed a “test deck” — a group of ballots that is filled out before the election to make sure machines get the correct vote total.
Similar tests are done in every county across the state before the machines are used.
The North Dakota Monitor observed the public demonstrations Cass and Burleigh counties did of voting equipment leading up to the election.
“It went as it should go,” Mark Splonskowski, auditor-treasurer for Burleigh County, said of the test. “It counted it correctly and then we zeroed it out and made sure it was at zero when we were done.”
Henderson and other Cass County election officials demonstrated how the voting machines work and answered questions about the election process on Oct. 25 at a Fargo warehouse where the county stores its election equipment.
Nathan Hansen, who works in the county’s finance office, fed ballots into the machine by hand, just as a voter would, unless a voter asks for help from an election official. Some of the ballots are intentionally mismarked, such as voting for two candidates in the presidential race, to make sure the machine flags those kinds of mistakes for voters so they can get a new ballot to fix the mistake if they want to.
The machine will also flag races that are skipped or where the voter does not vote for the maximum number of candidates, such as voting for only one candidate for state House of Representatives when voters can select two.
Voting already has been taking place for weeks in North Dakota by absentee or mail-in voting and early in-person voting.
Cass County, North Dakota’s most populous county, runs more than 500 ballots through each of the more than 60 voting tabulators before they are given the stamp of approval.
The number of test ballots is determined by the number of contests. A county or precinct with fewer races will have fewer scenarios to test for.
During the Burleigh County test, Splonskowski demonstrated how the machine won’t allow multiple ballots to be inserted at the same time. He added the height and width specifications of the ballots must match the requirements of the machine.
Rep. Karen Karls, R-Bismarck, chair of NDGOP District 35, also viewed the Burleigh County election equipment test.
“It seems pretty straightforward,” Karls said of this year’s test.
She said she comes to the test every election cycle because some of her voters have concerns about election security.
“There are election deniers out there, and so I ask the questions and hopefully get the answers that take care of the problem,” Karls said.
Splonkowski said election officials and state lawmakers have tried to get ahead of election integrity questions.
“What I want is an informed electorate,” Splonskowski said. “I want informed legislators, so they know how the process works, so that they can understand it better. If there are to be improvements made, you can’t make improvements unless you already know how it works.”
All ballots cast in North Dakota are paper ballots, whether filled in manually or with a touchscreen. Henderson calls the touchscreen “a digital pencil” that transfers the voter’s choices to a paper ballot. The voter can review that ballot before submitting.
Henderson emphasized that neither the touch screen nor the vote tabulators are connected to the internet. Flash drives or “data sticks” are used to physically take results from the machine to the auditor’s office, but the paper ballots are put into sealed containers for potential verification.
Cody Schuler, advocacy manager of the American Civil Liberties Union in North Dakota, observed the Cass County demonstration.
The ACLU is among the groups that monitor voting sites and take reports of irregularities. The ACLU partners with the League of Women Voters on voter access issues.
“If folks feel their rights are being violated, or if there are long lines and want to report things that might be hindering people’s accessibility to the polls, those are the kind of things that people need to self-advocate for, but the ACLU and our partner organizations across the nation do that and we’re active here in North Dakota,” Schuler said.
Voters also can report issues to either of those groups, the county or to the secretary of state.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
Saturday, Dec. 6 / 6:00 p.m. (MT) / Watch / Live Stats
PREVIEW
The Montana men’s basketball team will look to stop a four-game slide on Saturday when they head to Grand Forks, N.D. to take on the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. It’s the final game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
The Grizzlies fell in the opener of the annual conference challenge series at home on Wednesday night to North Dakota State. It’s the first time since 2020 that Montana has lost four consecutive games under head coach Travis DeCuire.
The new-look team brought back just two players that averaged more than 10.0 minutes per game last season and they are still finding the right winning formula. They have shown plenty of reason to get excited about the season with a win at UNLV and a near-win in SEC country against a 7-2 Texas A&M team.
But the recent stretch has proven that Montana still has a ways to go if they want to reach the same heights that the 2024-25 achieved.
As the Grizzlies enter the home stretch of the non-conference season, they will look to start a new streak this Saturday. They follow up the North Dakota game with two straight contests against non-D-I opponents, giving them the opportunity for momentum heading into Big Sky play.
They face a North Dakota team that has lost two straight games by a combined 69 points. The Fighting Hawks are 3-7 on the season with a 1-2 record on their home floor.
Saturday’s game will tip off at 6:00 p.m. MT and will be streamed on Midco Sports Plus.
SHAKING THE STREAK
Montana is looking to snap a four-game losing streak on Saturday. This is just the second time under Coach DeCuire that Montana has lost four straight games. DeCuire has never lost five consecutive games.
The Grizzlies haven’t lost five straight games since the 2007-08 season.
BIG SKY-SUMMIT CHALLENGE
The Grizzlies are 3-2 all-time in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. Montana is 1-1 in road games in the challenge with a win two years ago at North Dakota State.
After the first day of competition, the Big Sky leads the challenge 12-10. The Big Sky won six games on the men’s side and four games on the women’s side. The Lady Griz were the only Big Sky women’s team to win on Wednesday, while three men’s teams won road contest.
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA (3-7)
- The Fighting Hawks are on a two-game losing streak, falling on Wednesday in the first game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge at Idaho. They lost 90-58 to the Vandals and fell 92-55 in the prior game at Hawaii.
- Last season, North Dakota finished 12-21 overall and 5-11 in Summit League play. They upset South Dakota State in the Summit League Tournament to advance to the semifinals, where they fell against St. Thomas.
- North Dakota is 1-2 at home this season. This is the first home game since Nov. 11, a 128-58 win over Mayville State. They have home losses to UC Riverside and CSUN.
- As a team, UND averages 0.94 years of D-I experience, which ranks 297th in the NCAA, according to KenPom.com.
- Head coach Paul Sather is in his 7th season at North Dakota. He holds a 76-122 record with the Fighting Hawks. In his 21 year head coaching career, he has an overall record of 358-273 (.567).
- UND averages 73.0 points per game while allowing 79.1. The -6.1 scoring margin ranks 307th in the NCAA.
- They excel in forcing turnovers, ranking 25th in the country by forcing 16.4 turnovers per game. UND also only commit 11.5 turnovers per game. They have a 4.9 turnover margin, which ranks 23rd in the NCAA.
- Greyson Uelmen leads the Fighting Hawks with 13.6 points per game. He is the only player on the UND roster to average double figures and ranks 11th in the Summit League in scoring.
- Eli King has been fantastic defensively this year, ranking 7th in the entire NCAA with 26 total steals. King averages 2.6 per game. Garrett Anderson is 2nd in the Summit league with 18 total steals.
- Zach Kraft has made 23 three-pointers this year, which ranks 3rd in the Summit and 88th nationally.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE FIGHTING HAWKS
Montana leads the all-time series against North Dakota 19-7. The Grizzlies are 5-6 in Grand Forks. They lost the last meeting at North Dakota in 2021 but had won the previous three inside the Betty.
Coach DeCuire is 9-1 against North Dakota in his career and went 8-0 against them while they were a member of the Big Sky Conference.
GRIZ NOTES
- The team leading at halftime has won all nine games that Montana has played in this season. The Griz are 4-0 when leading at the break and 0-5 when trailing.
- The previous six games that Montana has played in have all been decided by single digits.
- Montana has been .500 or better through 10 games every season since 2020-21. The Grizzlies started the COVID season at 4-6 through 10 games.
- The Grizzlies have allowed 80+ points in six of the nine games this season.
- Montana has a better field goal percentage than its opponent in seven of nine games this season.
- The Griz are 3-0 when outrebounding their opponent this season.
- UM has been outscored in six straight halves of basketball. The last half that they won was the second at Texas A&M (50-41).
- Montana has lost three straight home games for the first time ever under DeCuire and the first time overall since 2004.
- Money Williams is averaging 10.0 assists per game over the last two contests and has seven games with at least 5 assists this season.
- Williams has scored at least 15 points in eight straight games. He reached the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season in Wednesday’s loss to NDSU.
- Tyler Isaak set a new career high with 4 steals against North Dakota State.
- Brooklyn Hicks scored in double figures for the 5th time this season on Wednesday.
- Tyler Thompson is 7-of-12 (.583) from three-point range over the last two games. He’s averaging 7.6 points per game and is shooting 40.9 percent from three-point range.
- Courtney Anderson Jr. scored in double figures for the second time this season on Wednesday. He entered the game with just two field goal attempts from inside the arc but had three two-point tries against NDSU.
BISMARCK – The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is asking for the public’s help in connection with a dead whitetail buck found southeast of Bismarck.
In a news release, the department said a landowner discovered the buck in the ditch on the morning of Nov. 30 off Lincoln Road near 249th Street Southeast. Upon investigation, Department game wardens determined the buck had been shot and was likely killed the evening of Nov. 29 or the early morning hours the following day.
North Dakota’s deer gun season closed Nov. 23.
Evidence at the scene indicated the deer was likely shot in another location and dumped at the Lincoln Road site.
The Game and Fish Department encourages hunters, anglers and landowners who witness a fish or wildlife violation to file a report with the Report All Poachers program. To report information on this case or others, call the RAP line at (701) 328-9921.
The RAP line offers rewards for information leading to the conviction of fish and wildlife violators. Callers can remain anonymous.
Russian gas and oil in Europe are done for good, Energy Commissioner tells Euronews
The World Cup draw is here. Here’s why it matters — and how it will work
Missing ‘at-risk’ girl Melodee Buzzard’s mom appears in court after alleged box-cutter standoff
‘Total lawlessness:’ Journalist influencer says he was stalked, later assaulted at chaotic Dearborn protest
Top GOP senator urges Olympic officials to swiftly enact ‘decisive policy’ banning men from women’s sports
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Russian gas and oil in Europe are done for good, Energy Commissioner tells Euronews
The World Cup draw is here. Here’s why it matters — and how it will work
Ex–New York State official accused of spying for China called Hochul ‘more obedient’ than Cuomo, trial reveals
Putin challenges US pressure on India over Russian oil during state visit
Speaker Johnson pleads with Republicans to keep concerns private after tumultuous week
-
Politics2 days agoTrump rips Somali community as federal agents reportedly eye Minnesota enforcement sweep
-
News3 days agoTrump threatens strikes on any country he claims makes drugs for US
-
World3 days agoHonduras election council member accuses colleague of ‘intimidation’
-
Technology1 week agoNew scam sends fake Microsoft 365 login pages
-
Politics1 week agoRep. Swalwell’s suit alleges abuse of power, adds to scrutiny of Trump official’s mortgage probes
-
Ohio20 hours agoWho do the Ohio State Buckeyes hire as the next offensive coordinator?
-
Ohio1 week agoSnow set to surge across Northeast Ohio, threatening Thanksgiving travel
-
News1 week ago2 National Guard members wounded in ‘targeted’ attack in D.C., authorities say