New Details Emerge in Cascade County Fraudulent Signature Investigation

Last Friday, the Cascade County Attorney's office announced they would be investigating allegations of "improper petition signature gathering during the campaigns of Seth Bodnar and Dr. Michael Eisenhauer."

Now, authorities have provided an update with more information.

Seth Bobnar, Dr. Michael Eisenhauer Update

In an email I received from the office of the Cascade County Attorney's Office, it was revealed that "approximately 810 potentially fraudulent signatures were received by the Cascade County Elections Office before the filing deadline" pertaining to the campaigns of Seth Bodnar and Dr. Michael Eisenhauer.

Bodnar ran his independent campaign for the U.S. Senate against Kurt Alme (R), Alani Bankhead (D), and Kyle Austin (L).

ALSO READ: Rabid Bat Reported in Cascade County

Dr. Eisenhauer ran for U.S. House District 2 (East) as an Independent taking on Troy Downing (R), Brian J. Miller (D), and Patrick McCracken (L).

Thankfully, neither candidate is suspected of any wrongdoing.

Fraudulent Signature Investigation

Officials say that none of those fraudulent signatures were counted toward either candidate's ballot total. According to authorities, "both campaigns have cooperated fully with the investigation, are not currently suspected of wrongdoing, and immediately agreed that any questionable signatures should be excluded."

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Authorities made it clear they understand any frustration "surrounding the limited details" of the investigation but want to make sure they get to the bottom of it before providing info that could cause some people (even media) to speculate, jump to conclusions, or completely compromise the investigation.

Investigation Details Will Be Limited... For Now

It makes sense - this is a serious allegation, and you want to get to the bottom of it without any unnecessary distractions clouding the truth. They also added they don't want to alert any potential suspects they could be on their tail.

"Public confidence in the election process depends on transparency, but it also depends on a careful investigation that is not compromised by premature disclosure," Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki said.

"We understand why the public wants more information. We have released the facts we can confirm without jeopardizing evidence or alerting potential suspects, and we will continue providing updates as the investigation allows."

REMINDER: The Fraudulent Votes Didn't Count!

Officials want to be crystal clear with their message to the public. They "excluded the signatures before finalizing its count, and only signatures verified as valid were included in the candidates’ ballot-qualification totals."

Chris C./TSM Great Falls