In a 28 to 20 vote, voters get the shaft.

Yesterday, the Montana Senate killed the last chance we had to choose Sec. Zinke's replacement with a mail in ballot. This means that the polling stations in Fleathead county will have to be fully manned.

I talked to Monica Eisenzimer over at the Flathead County Elections office this morning. The current estimate is that an all mail in ballot election would have saved Flathead County taxpayers between $50,000 and $75,000. We won't know what our final bill will be until after the election is over though.

These are the State Senators from Flathead County that voted against allowing us to vote by mail:

• SD 02 - Dee Brown
• SD 03 - Keith Reiger
• SD 04 - Mark Blasdel
• SD 05 - Bob Keenan
• SD 06 - Al Olszewski

If you feel strongly about this issue, either way, please reach out to your represenative and let them know how you feel about it and why!

The time line for this bill can be found here.

The results from the final vote can be found here.