North Dakota first lady Kathryn Burgum's election ballot rejected

FARGO — The

North Dakota first lady’s

ballot was thrown out last month after election authorities determined the signature on her absentee application didn’t match the one on her mail-in ballot envelope.

The Secretary of State absentee tracker website shows the June 11 primary election ballot of Kathryn Helgaas, also known as

Kathryn Burgum,

was rejected because the “signatures do not match.” Helgaas married

Doug Burgum

in late 2016 after he was elected North Dakota governor for his first term. She uses the name Kathryn Burgum.

Doug Burgum’s absentee/mail-in ballot was accepted, according to the tracker website.

Kathryn Burgum was unavailable for comment before publishing time, Doug Burgum spokesman Dawson Schefter said. He confirmed she filled out her absentee ballot and voted in Cass County.

“Cass County staff had a question about it, reached a determination, and the matter was resolved,” Schefter said in a statement.

The Cass County Canvassing Board met on June 24. Along with Cass County Commission Chair Chad Peterson, County Finance Director Brandy Madrigga and County Recorder Deborah Moeller, three Democrats and three Republicans voted on whether to accept or reject ballots.

The board voted to reject Kathryn Helgaas’ ballot, said Cheryl Biller, a Democrat who was on the canvassing board. The last name on Helgaas’ absentee application didn’t match the envelope that contained her ballot, Biller said.

The board discussed how the first name on the ballot might have matched, but the last name “completely looked different,” Biller said.

It’s unclear what, exactly, made the two signatures different; The Forum was not allowed to review the application and ballot envelope to compare them.

“I’m not sure any of us recognized the name when we were looking at it,” she said. “I do remember, of the ones that we rejected, they just looked like they couldn’t be the same people.”

Biller said someone told her after the meeting that the ballot belonged to Kathryn Burgum.

Melissa Paulik, one of the Republicans, declined to discuss an individual’s ballot, but she said ballots rejected due to mismatched signatures “are usually pretty clear.”

“It’s not uncommon to have a unanimous vote,” she said.

Peterson, Democrat Christine Fastnaught and Republicans Hal Ecker and Amy Olson told The Forum they didn’t recall Kathryn Helgaas’ ballot. Democrat Renae Aafor didn’t return a message.

Doug Burgum is considered a top contender to be former President Donald Trump’s vice president running mate. The presumed Republican presidential nominee in the 2024 election is likely to announce his pick in the coming days, possibly at the Republican National Convention next week in Milwaukee.

Burgum will attend the convention, said spokesman Mike Nowatzki.

Trump claimed that mail-in ballots were a source of fraud that cost him the 2020 election against Democrat Joe Biden. The two are expected to face off in the general election on Nov. 5.

North Dakotans can request an absentee or mail-in ballot by filling out an application. They then receive a ballot, which must be sent back in a sealed envelope.

That envelope serves as a sworn statement, or affidavit, that the person who is voting is actually that person. North Dakota law requires voters to sign their own ballot applications and envelope affidavit, North Dakota Elections Director Erika White said.

Election officials then compare the signatures on the application and ballot envelope, Cass County Election Administrator Craig Steingaard said. If his office believes the signatures don’t match, staff send a letter to the person and try to call them to confirm the ballot is theirs, he said.

“It’s a good process,” he said of trying to get voters to confirm ballots with mismatched signatures. “I think Cass County does everything that we possibly can, because we don’t want anybody to have a rejected ballot. If we can get them to be able to provide us the information to make sure their ballot is counted, that’s what we are going to do.”

A county absentee board, separate from the canvassing board, can review the signatures as well before the canvassing board meets, White said. The voter then has until the canvassing board meets, which happens 13 days after an election, to contact election officials to fix, or “cure,” their ballot, she said.

North Dakota is one of 28 states that allows a voter to fix mismatched signatures. Steingaard said he has never seen a ballot with mismatched signatures be rejected if a voter confirms the ballot is theirs.

If the voter doesn’t respond, the canvassing board has to make the final call, Steingaard said.

“The county auditor, the absentee board, they have no ability to reject any voter’s ballot,” White said. “Only the canvassing board can make that determination.”

The county also sends out a letter to a person informing them that the canvassing board rejected their ballot and the reason it was thrown out, he said.

The county receives ballots with mismatched signatures every election, Steingaard said. What varies is the number, he said.

State records indicate Kathryn Burgum’s ballot was sent to her on May 22 and returned to Cass County on June 12. The Burgums own property in Cass County, meaning Kathryn Burgum could vote in Cass County.

If the Secretary of State’s website says the first lady’s ballot was rejected, that means Cass County did not get a response to the letter it sent her before the canvassing board met, Steingaard said.

“In my experience, the signature usually needs to be pretty far off, if I’m being honest,” he said of canvassing boards rejecting a ballot. “It must have made people question it.”

The board reviewed 150 ballots, according to meeting minutes. The board rejected 11 because signatures on applications didn’t match the ballot envelope, Cass County spokeswoman Catlin Solum said.

The rejected ballots have been stored away by the county recorder, Solum said. They cannot be opened or inspected unless a recount happens or a judge issues a court order, Solum said in citing North Dakota canvassing law.

Biller acknowledged signatures can vary, and the canvassing board members aren’t trained in handwriting analysis. The first lady’s ballot should be treated like everyone else’s, Biller said.

“I guess I have to say, she shouldn’t get special consideration,” Biller said. “If her signatures don’t match, her signatures don’t match.”

Paulik said it is important for voters to try to use the same signature for ballot applications and ballots.

“I think many are unaware that these signatures are compared to ensure ‘one person, one vote,’” she said. “The canvassing board is usually pretty good at giving people the benefit of the doubt. (For example), they signed the application quickly but took more time with their ballot signature. Still, some people don’t make that job easy.”

Doug Burgum has served as North Dakota’s governor since late 2016. He also ran for president as a Republican but dropped out in December.

The governor declined to seek a third term as head of North Dakota’s government.

Speculation that Doug Burgum could be Trump’s running mate has grown in recent weeks. Trump has said he knows who he will pick, but he hasn’t said who the finalists are.

Doug Burgum has thrown his support behind Trump and has spent many days out of state campaigning on the former president’s behalf. Kathryn Burgum has often been at his side on the campaign trail for Trump.

Between May 22 and June 11, Doug Burgum appeared at the North Carolina Republican Convention, in New York as a jury ruled Trump was guilty in a hush money trial and in Louisiana to discuss an energy plan with 19 other governors.

The former president attacked absentee and mail-in ballots after his 2020 loss to Biden. He continuously claimed mail-in ballots were used to commit widespread election fraud and that the presidency was “stolen” from him.

Those allegations have been proven false.

Trump has seemingly in recent months changed his stance on absentee ballots.

“Absentee voting, early voting and Election Day voting are all good options,” Trump said recently on social media.