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Montana election officials report threats ahead of primary

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Montana election officials report threats ahead of primary


Escalating rhetoric associated to voter-fraud conspiracy theories is crossing the road into what election officers say are threats in opposition to their bodily security, with lower than two weeks left earlier than Montana’s major election.

Addressing the state Legislature’s oversight committee for election processes, Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan mentioned Wednesday he’s been working with different organizations to encourage native election directors and legislation enforcement to develop plans “for the protection of their workers, polling areas and tools.”

“Election misinformation, disinformation, the stuff that’s occurring throughout the state, is harming and placing in danger our election officers, our election judges, our election volunteers and poll-watchers within the coming elections,” he mentioned, including, “somebody wants to face up and say Montanans must be proud and be ok with the election practices we’ve got in place and may really feel assured about their vote.”

Mangan cited potential threats directed at election officers in Carbon and Cascade counties, and requested the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee to contemplate laws that will improve protections for election officers and judges in opposition to security threats.

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Mangan additionally requested that lawmakers play an even bigger function in pushing again on election misinformation.

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“I haven’t needed to cope with one thing like this within the earlier 5 years. That is all new due to the fixed disinformation and it’s coming from individuals who ought to know higher,” Mangan mentioned. “Respectfully, it’s coming from a few of your colleagues.”

Elsewhere within the state, election officers counties have beforehand mentioned they’ve obtained threatening messages from native activists, whereas others have described potential threats to election machines and tense confrontations with activists spreading election fraud theories.

Mangan additionally expressed disappointment within the state’s prime elections official, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, for staying largely silent on election-fraud misinformation and security threats.

“The Secretary of State’s workplace must be telling folks that they should really feel assured in our election processes, day by day,” he mentioned. “As an alternative we’ve got teams going round, simply within the final three days, telling folks their votes received’t be counted, that there are modems within the machines, that their votes are going to Spain after which coming again … It has to cease.”

Jacobsen has maintained that Montana’s elections are safe, and that the machines don’t connect with the web. However she’s stayed largely silent whereas Republican secretaries of state elsewhere within the nation have in some instances taken an energetic function in pushing again in opposition to conspiracy theories.

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Requested to touch upon Jacobsen’s reluctance to deal with election conspiracy theories, spokesperson Richie Melby issued the next assertion Wednesday:

“The Secretary and Workplace work with a servant’s coronary heart in the direction of protected, safe, and accessible elections day by day. State and native election officers are a key element of these elections and the Secretary has persistently acknowledged one of many biggest strengths of Montana’s elections are our election officers. State and native election officers are the trusted supply of election info in Montana. Ought to any election official be threatened whereas performing the necessary duties of their job, they need to contact native legislation enforcement.”

Carbon county’s election administrator, Crystal Roascio, wrote in an electronic mail Wednesday that she has been involved with native legislation enforcement following allegations by right-wing activists that the machines the county makes use of to course of ballots are compromised.

“I’ve election judges terrified for his or her security and have even had some resign from being a choose over this,” Roascio wrote within the electronic mail to Mangan. “I’ve been involved with our sheriff about deputies/reserves in all polling areas. He agrees we do want this, however we’re not certain if we’ve got sufficient to try this.”

Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan mentioned Wednesday that his workplace had not obtained an official grievance concerning threats to election employees, however confirmed further deputies can be staffed for the election on account of safety considerations introduced by the election administrator.

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Mark Cook dinner, a self-described cyber safety knowledgeable who has sought to solid doubt on the state’s election expertise, gave a presentation in Purple Lodge Monday as a part of a tour all through the state this week. Roascio wrote that she attended the presentation, and was approached by native activists demanding a hand-count of ballots.

Roascio has been embroiled in a latest controversy over allegations that her poll tabulators have been doubtlessly tampered with. In an interview final week, she mentioned the difficulty relies on a misunderstanding of safety protocols for the ballot-processing machines.

All counties that use tabulators in Montana are required to conduct a “public take a look at” inside 30 days of every election they use the machines for. The general public checks contain scanning batches of take a look at ballots by means of the tabulators, checking for various combos of votes and potential errors, and evaluating these outcomes to the bodily take a look at ballots that have been used.

Throughout Carbon County’s Could 12 public take a look at, an observer observed the guarantee labels on the machine had been broken, Roascio mentioned. She emphasised they weren’t the safety seals, which she mentioned stay intact. Safety seals have to be damaged with the intention to entry the interior workings of the machines, and are in place to protect in opposition to potential tampering.

“After talking with the Secretary of State’s workplace, ES&S and the licensed tech for ES&S and it was present in February 2020, proper in the midst of the pandemic, they needed to are available and upgraded the scanner boards inside our DS200s,” Roascio mentioned. Election Techniques & Software program is the seller that manufactures and companies all tabulators utilized in Montana, together with the DS200 mannequin.

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She famous that the corporate provided to exchange the machines, however wouldn’t have been capable of get them ready and authorized in time for the June 7 major election.

Since that assembly, Roascio mentioned she’s fielded quite a few inquiries in regards to the challenge, particularly after a right-wing weblog revealed a put up repeatedly referring to the labels as “seals” and suggesting the machines’ safety had been breached.

Again in December, Jacobsen was requested in an interview whether or not she believes there’s any concrete proof to help allegations of coordinated voter fraud in Montana. She repeatedly declined to reply.

“I’m going to help any effort that improves the integrity of the elections, interval,” Jacobsen responded on the time, including that she would work with the Legislature to take action.



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Montana Lottery Lucky For Life, Big Sky Bonus results for Jan. 30, 2025

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The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Jan. 30, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Jan. 30 drawing

09-13-18-23-40, Lucky Ball: 04

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from Jan. 30 drawing

11-14-24-28, Bonus: 06

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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 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
  • Lotto America: 9 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 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.

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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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Whitefish senator introduces revisions to Montana resort tax • Daily Montanan

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Whitefish senator introduces revisions to Montana resort tax • Daily Montanan


Tourism is a double-edged sword, says Sen. Dave Fern. 

The Whitefish Democrat has decades of experience living in one of the state’s top tourism destinations to back up that statement. 

More than half the economy of towns such as Whitefish, a gateway community to Glacier National Park and home to Whitefish Mountain Resort, stands on the backs of tourism and recreation-based businesses. 

The town of roughly 9,000 people welcomes around 1 million visitors each year, according to the University of Montana Institute of Tourism and Recreation Research, and those visitors have an impact on local infrastructures, trails, and rising property values — all things a local resort tax helps address. 

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Fern, a Whitefish Democrat, said that West Yellowstone was the first community in the state to implement a local-option sales tax in the 1980s. Now, 13 communities in the state have a “resort” designation and leverage the resort tax.   

“As tourism and visitation became more and more an essential part of the economy, lots of smaller communities — both unincorporated areas and municipalities — were adversely impacted by the effects of tourism and visitation,” Fern told the Senate Taxation committee on Wednesday. “You take some communities with a limited tax base and increasing infrastructure needs because of tourism, and you come into a collision.”

Fern is sponsoring Senate Bill 172, which would amend the current resort tax law to increase the population threshold for communities that can obtain a “resort” designation from the state, and allow an additional 1% tax to be collected and used for workforce housing. 

“I think what is important is that the state recognizes that resort communities and areas face an extra hardship caused by tourism, and they need assistance,” he said. 

Currently, cities with less than 5,500 residents and unincorporated areas with fewer than 2,500 residents that derive at least half their economy from visitor-based businesses can opt to enact a resort tax with voter approval — and can extend the tax even if the population grows past the initial limits. 

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Fern’s bill would raise the cap for cities to enact the tax to 10,000 residents, and for unincorporated areas to 3,500, saying he had Whitefish in mind as an example town. 

“Over the years, Whitefish, in particular, has doubled, or nearly doubled in population,” Fern said. “And yet we haven’t grown ourselves out of the problem, the problem being increased visitation that has a continued impact on the need for infrastructure.” 

The tax, capped at 3%, applies to sales of non-essential “luxury” goods and services sold by food, lodging and destination-recreation businesses within a resort area, while exempting a long list of “necessities of life,” with the goal of maximizing tourism dollars and minimizing impacts on local residents.

At least 5% of resort tax revenue must be used to alleviate local property taxes, with the rest determined by the local governing body. 

Communities can also leverage an additional 1% to be used exclusively for infrastructure, but that addition is capped for cities below the population limits. 

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Residents of Whitefish first passed the resort tax in 1995, and reauthorized it for 20 more years in 2021, when city officials said that annual tax revenue was around $4 million. Currently, the city of Whitefish allocates 25% of revenue to property tax relief, 48% to infrastructure projects, 10% to bike paths and parks, 10% to affordable housing projects and 2% to the local Whitefish Trail System. 

Fern’s bill also focuses on workforce housing by removing the population cap for leveraging the additional 1% tax and allowing it to be used for infrastructure or affordable housing projects. 

While new taxes are often perceived as unpopular, Fern pointed out to committee members that each time the Whitefish tax was put to voters, it gained support. The 2021 vote to extend the tax passed with 89% of the vote, while a recent vote to add a tax to the Big Mountain Resort District — comprising Whitefish Mountain Resort, which sits outside city limits — also passed with more than 80% support. 

“I think that is because you can see progress. You see infrastructure changes, you see significant improvements in roads, side walks, shared use paths, that sort of thing,” Fern said. “And you get property tax relief, so that’s why it’s been very very popular.”

No one opposed SB 172 during the committee hearing, while a representative from Shelter Whitefish, a nonprofit focused on housing inequality, testified in support.

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Johnson lifts Griz to 77-70 win over Cats – University of Montana Athletics

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Johnson lifts Griz to 77-70 win over Cats – University of Montana Athletics


Kai Johnson, starting for the first time in over two months, stole the show on Saturday night in his first ever Brawl of the Wild to lead Montana to a 77-70 victory over the Montana State Bobcats.
 
Johnson scored 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting and led a fantastic team effort in the defensive end to help Montana win for the 17th time in the last 19 tries at home against the Cats.
 
 “Just attack and be aggressive and get back to my game,” Johnson said of his mentality on Saturday night. “I had a little two-game rough stretch but just stayed confident in my abilities and the work I’ve put in my whole life to go out there and do what I do.”

 
The Grizzlies (13-8, 6-2 Big Sky) scored 17 points off turnovers, forcing 13 Bobcat turnovers on the night. They also limited MSU (8-13, 3-5 Big Sky) to just four made three-pointers and gave up just four second-chance points.
 
Paired with a hot night from Johnson and balanced scoring behind him, and it resulted in Montana leading for more than 35 of the 40 minutes.
 
“I feel like tonight was the best we’ve executed on the defensive side of the ball all year,” head coach Travis DeCuire said. “And then our consideration. When we really needed a basket, whether it was the first or second half, we did a really good job of taking advantage of some things that we saw, but also getting to the second and third options.”
 
Montana State had a quick 4-0 lead before a 7-0 Grizzly run put the hosts back in charge. The teams traded baskets in the early-going and Montana State went ahead 21-20 on a three-point play with just under nine minutes left in the first half.
 
Then Johnson scored on a drive to the hoop to start a 22-9 Grizzly run over the final nine minutes. Johnson had 10 of the 22 points, and went into the halftime break with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
 
Montana scored the final six points of the half, heading into the locker rooms with all of the momentum after shooting 63.3 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
 
Malik Moore hit a three-pointer early in the second half and Johnson followed it up with a three-point play to put Montana ahead 48-31 in the early stages of the second half. The Grizzlies led by double figures for a large portion of the half, thanks in large part to the play of Joe Pridgen.
 
Pridgen had eight Montana points in a row early in the second half, and 10 out of 12 for Montana at one point. He scored 10 points on perfect shooting over the final 20 minutes, and ended the game with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds.
 
“Our patience side-to-side and our ball screen motion really saved us because we were able to milk the clock a little bit and then pick some things up against some switches,” DeCuire said. “Joe Pridgen got going for us a little bit, but Kai Johnson was the difference.”
 
Johnson had six straight on his own over a two-minute stretch that made it 69-57 Montana, and gave them enough of a cushion to withstand a field goal drought of nearly six minutes to end the game.
 
Montana State went on a 7-0 run following his last make to cut the lead to five points. They had another 6-0 run in the final two minutes to get within one possession at 73-70, but they never had the ball within a possession as Montana made its free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
 
The Grizzlies offense may have cooled off down the stretch, but it was the ball control that was key to the win. Montana did not commit a single turnover in the second half. MSU had five. It led to 13 more shots from Montana on the night.
 
“You won’t lose if you take care of the ball. If you get more shots than your opponent, you typically win, especially when you’re getting good shots,” DeCuire said. “I think for us, the ball pressure helped, they took advantage of it a little bit with space to drive, but we forced some turnovers to make up for it. The biggest thing is if you take care of the ball and get a shot every time down the floor, you give yourself a great chance and we did that tonight.”
 
The Grizzlies did well defensively on the three-point shooting of the Bobcats. They average nearly nine makes per game, but went just 4-of-12 on Saturday. The Griz also held the Cats leading scorer, Brandon Walker, well below his season average.
 
“Just paying attention to the details. Some guys we covered one way, some guys we covered another, and I felt like our guys did an incredible job of maintaining the coverage,” DeCuire said. “We knew who was going to shoot the threes in what situations, and they did a good job, they countered some stuff, but I just thing our guys did a great job understanding the personnel scout.”
 
It was Johnson’s best game of the season as the Western Washington transfer’s 25 points were a career high against a D-1 opponent. He had the hot hand early, and the Grizzlies fed him throughout the night.

 
Johnson said the crowd was “everything” for his team tonight, and he fed off the energy they brought. He certainly made the most of his first rivalry game, and it all started early with some tough baskets in the lane.
 
“At that point, you hit a couple of shots, you’re playing good defense, the team is playing good, you just kind of get in this flow state and it’s just instincts at that point,” Johnson said.
 
DeCuire has known that Johnson has performances like this in him. The blessing and the curse of this Montana team is that there are several ball-dominant players like Johnson that can take over any given game.
 
Johnson had just nine points over Montana’s previous three games. He made 11 shots on Saturday to get his form back and then some.
 
“He played his game. He’s good with the ball in his hands and he has been all year,” DeCuire said. “We created some opportunities for him, spaced the floor and went to a shooting lineup with Joe at the five which helped spread the floor and get to some things.”
 
Montana improved to 9-1 at home in the rivalry under Coach DeCuire, who won his 214th game to inch ever closer to the program record of 221 set by “Jiggs” Dahlberg.
 
There was a crowd of nearly 6,000 on hand to witness the Grizzly victory, which also improved DeCuire to 15-5 overall against the rivals. The majority of Montana’s roster was playing in its first rivalry game on Saturday night.
 
“I didn’t even really discuss it very much. I love this environment, this is what being a Griz is about, this support,” DeCuire said. “We recruited them to that, so they knew that everyone would show up for this game. I remember when they would show up for all of them, but we appreciate the support. They were loud, they were energetic, and we had a sixth man tonight.”

 
The Grizzlies won’t have long to revel in the victory as they have another big game coming on Thursday night. Portland State, sitting right behind Montana in the league standings at 5-2, comes to town on Thursday night.
 
Montana then hosts Sacramento State in the annual N7 Game on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Vikings have won three straight games and have separated themselves as the clear third-place team in the league, setting up a huge showdown for Thursday evening.
 
“I think it’s healthy for us to get this one behind us so we can get back to us,” DeCuire said. Not about the crowd and things like that, but just play our best basketball and this is how we’re going to win. It’s a big week, it’s our biggest week of the year. If we take care of home, we’ve already won enough road games to put ourselves in a really good spot.”

 





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