Counties accept enough signatures to put Bodnar, Eisenhauer on ballot; counts unofficial

HELENA, Mont. — Montana counties have accepted enough signatures for Seth Bodnar, running for U.S. Senate and Michael Eisenhauer, running in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District, to be on the November ballot, although counts are still unofficial.

County election officials are continuing to verify signatures submitted by Tuesday’s deadline as part of the candidate petition process.

The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has not yet verified, certified or accepted the petitions, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

Counties must submit candidate petitions to the Secretary of State’s office by June 1.

The Secretary of State’s office will then conduct its “statutory review to ensure the petitions meet the necessary legal requirements under law.”

The deadline for the November general election ballot to be certified is Thursday, Aug. 20. By then, all qualifying candidates and any potential ballot issues that qualify for the general election will be officially certified.

The following was out by the Montana Secretary of State’s Office:

The attached report is unofficial. It includes totals that the county election officials have processed and entered in the system. These totals do not represent what the Secretary of State’s Office has received, reviewed, tabulated, or certified. The certified totals may differ from what is reflected.

Seth Bodnar, U.S. Senate

• 13,327 required
• 18,772 accepted
• 7,812 rejected

Kimberly Persico, MT-01

• 6,742 required
• 563 accepted
• 156 rejected

Michael Eisenhauer, MT-02

• 7,274 required
• 7,754 accepted
• 4,720 rejected