RED LODGE — If you’re looking for a story on the alleged stolen election of 2020, or evidence for the “Big Lie” – a notion peddled by former U.S. President Donald Trump about being denied a second term in office, that’s not this story.
But this is a story about elections, ballot-counting machines and the politics of a very Republican county in a red state. And, exactly what happened on Election Night 2022 isn’t clear and is at the heart of a lawsuit filed in Carbon County by Albert “Chip” and Lisa Bennett, as well as an investigation by the state Department of Criminal Investigation, which appears to be in the hands of the FBI.
The Bennetts became interested in elections – from the equipment to the process – in the aftermath of the 2020 election with rumors of fraud and vote-flipping machines. So, they took Carbon County officials up on their offer to showcase the machines that run the elections in this southern Montana county, about an hour’s distance from Yellowstone National Park. The Bennetts attended a meeting meant to demonstrate the equipment and explain the process – an approach that other counties took to shore up public confidence in the results of the election.
