Montana

Free pizza and a DJ help defrost Montana voters lined up until 4 a.m. in the snow to vote

Published

2 months ago

November 6, 2024

Free pizza and a DJ help defrost Montana voters lined up until 4 a.m. in the snow to vote

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Stuck on a snowy sidewalk for hours after polls closed, voters in a Montana college town created an encouraging vibe as they moved slowly through a line leading to the ballot boxes inside the county courthouse.

They huddled under blankets and noshed on chips, nuts and pizza handed out by volunteers. They swayed to an impromptu street DJ, waved glow sticks and remembered a couple of truths: This is a college town and hanging out late at night for a good cause is fun — even in the teeth-chattering cold.

R-r-r-Right?

Hardy residents of Bozeman, Montana, queued along Main Street by the hundreds on election night, with Democrats, Republicans and independents sharing a not-so-brief moment of camaraderie and warmth to close out an otherwise caustic election season.

Among them, clad in a puffy down jacket and a thin pair of gardening gloves, was Davor Danevski, a 38-year-old tech worker. By early Wednesday morning, he’d waited almost five hours.

“The last two elections I missed because I was living abroad in Europe. I didn’t want to miss a third election,” said Danevski. “Too many people don’t take it as seriously as they should.”

Polls closed at 8 p.m. The last ballot was cast at 4 a.m. by an undoubtedly committed voter.

The long wait traces to a clash of Montana’s recent population growth and people who waited until the last minute to register to vote, change their address on file or get a replacement ballot. Many voters in the hometown of Montana State University were students.

The growth of Gallatin County — up almost 40% since 2010 — meant the 10 election workers crammed into an office were woefully insufficient to process all the last-minute voter registrations and changes.

“The building’s just not set up … It’s not designed to hold all the people that Gallatin County has now for every election. So we need to do something about that,” County Clerk Eric Semerad said of the structure built in 1935.

As darkness descended, flurries swirled and temperatures plunged into the 20s (minus 15 degrees Celsius), Kael Richards, a 22-year-old project engineer for a concrete company, took his place with a friend at the back of the line.

He appreciated the food and hand warmers given out before he finally cast his vote at 1 a.m. By then, he estimated, he had been lined up between seven and eight hours.

“The people down there were super nice,” Richards said Wednesday. “We thought about throwing in the towel but we were pretty much at the point that we’ve already been here, so why not?”

The county clerk asked county emergency officials to help manage the crowd since it was snowing. They shut down a road by the courthouse and set up tents with heaters inside. “It was brilliant,” Semerad said.

The line’s precise length was hard to measure as it snaked along the sidewalk, into the road and through the tent. It continued up the courthouse steps, jammed through a doorway, wrapped around an open lobby, up some more stairs, between rows of glass cases filled with historic artifacts and finally into the office of late-toiling election workers.

In past elections, lines have gone past midnight, but never as late as Tuesday’s, Semerad said. Many waiting could have stepped out of line and cast provisional ballots but chose to stick it out.

As midnight came and went Danevski stood patiently waiting his turn to start up the courthouse steps. For him, the long hours were worth it.

“If you can, you should always try to vote,” he said.

___

Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming.

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Montana

Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Lucky For Life results for Dec. 31, 2024

Published

6 hours ago

January 1, 2025

Press Room

The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 31, 2024, results for each game:

Winning Mega Millions numbers from Dec. 31 drawing

13-22-27-29-35, Mega Ball: 01, Megaplier: 2

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Dec. 31 drawing

19-27-37-41-48, Lucky Ball: 15

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from Dec. 31 drawing

03-19-20-21, Bonus: 15

Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 9:00 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
Lotto America: 9:00 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Montana Cash: 8:00 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.

Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.

Winning lottery numbers are sponsored by Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network.

Where can you buy lottery tickets?

Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.

You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer.

Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 18+ (19+ in NE, 21+ in AZ). Physically present where Jackpocket operates. Jackpocket is not affiliated with any State Lottery. Eligibility Restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Terms: jackpocket.com/tos.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Montana

Freight Rail Company Beats Montana Covid-19 Vaccine Complaints

Published

15 hours ago

December 31, 2024

Press Room

Freight Rail Company Beats Montana Covid-19 Vaccine Complaints

A federal Covid-19 vaccine mandate preempted a Montana state law prohibiting employers from discriminating against unvaccinated workers, a federal judge ruled.

The state law has been the subject of a number of lawsuits, including a challenge from doctors and immunocompromised individuals that the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected in October. Montana was one of roughly a dozen states that implemented vaccine status-related anti-discrimination laws during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Judge Brian Morris of the US District Court for the District of Montana stopped short of issuing a blanket injunction for future vaccine claims against BNSF Railway Company …

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Montana

Montana AG supports federal TikTok ban, as Trump calls for delay in U.S. Supreme Court filing

Published

23 hours ago

December 31, 2024

Press Room

Montana AG supports federal TikTok ban, as Trump calls for delay in U.S. Supreme Court filing

HELENA — Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over whether to uphold a federal law that would ban the app TikTok if its Chinese owners don’t sell it. Montana’s attorney general is asking the court to let the law go into effect – even as President-elect Donald Trump seeks to delay it.

“I think Congress got it right this time – I don’t often say that, but I think Congress got this one right,” Attorney General Austin Knudsen told MTN.

Last spring, on a bipartisan vote, Congress approved a law that gave TikTok’s parent company nine months to divest the app or risk losing access to U.S. app stores and internet hosting services. That deadline is approaching, on Jan. 19 – the day before Trump’s inauguration.

TikTok sued over the federal law, on the grounds that it infringed on the right of free expression for its millions of users. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and scheduled oral arguments for Jan. 10, leaving just a few days before the effective date.

On Friday, Knudsen and 21 other Republican state attorneys general filed an amicus brief, asking justices to let the law take effect.

“Allowing TikTok to operate in the United States without severing its ties to the Chinese Communist Party exposes Americans to the risk of the Chinese Communist Party accessing and exploiting their data,” they wrote.

Knudsen’s Amicus Brief:

At the same time, Trump’s attorneys submitted their own brief. In it, they said they weren’t taking a position on the merits of the case, but that they wanted the court to put a stay on the law, to give Trump time to reach a deal once in office that could resolve the issue “through political means.”

“President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Government—concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged,” they wrote.

While Trump’s brief didn’t support either side in the lawsuit, it did suggest there were “valid concerns” about First Amendment implications from blocking a social media platform.

Trump’s Amicus Brief:

In 2023, the Montana Legislature passed and Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 419, which said TikTok couldn’t operate in the state and app stores couldn’t offer it for download within Montana’s borders. Knudsen was one of the main backers of the law, and he cited concerns that China might be able to access U.S. users’ data. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in China, but has denied any claims that it puts data at risk.

TikTok and a group of Montana-based content creators challenged the state ban. A federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking it, ruling that the state infringing on users’ rights and overstepping onto the federal power over foreign policy. Knudsen appealed that decision, but the entire case was put on hold until the challenge to the federal law was resolved.

Knudsen said what the Supreme Court rules in the federal case will clearly make a difference when it’s time to rule on Montana’s ban. In his amicus brief, he accused TikTok of “trying to have its cake and eat it too” by arguing the state law intruded on federal authority but also challenging the federal law.

In 2020, during his first term as president, Trump issued an executive order that sought to ban TikTok, citing its connections to China. However, during his 2024 campaign, he spoke more favorably about the app, eventually saying people who wanted to “save TikTok in America” should vote for him.

Knudsen told MTN that he doesn’t believe Trump’s change in tone has had an impact on the concerns Montanans have about the app.

“Actually, if you look at what President Trump has said in his public statements, he likes the platform because he was able to reach a lot of young people and he thinks that helped him get elected,” he said. “But if you read that brief that they filed, they don’t dispute the fact that TikTok is a Chinese spying application.”

While China was the biggest topic during the debate over Montana’s SB 419, the law also criticized TikTok for what it said was promoting dangerous content for minors. Knudsen filed a lawsuit against the app and its owners earlier this year, making similar arguments. He told MTN Monday he’d have to “wait and see” what form a divestiture of TikTok would take, before he could say whether it would address those issues to his satisfaction.

While the U.S. Supreme Court typically doesn’t rule quickly on cases, Knudsen said he expects that may be different this time.

“We don’t often see them move this fast, but I think the Roberts court probably recognizes that this is an important issue – it’s a hot issue for certain,” he said.

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