Cascade County law enforcement officials, including Sheriff Jesse Slaughter and County Attorney Josh Racki, have issued a $20,000 warrant for the arrest of Nathan Ross Harlan, who remains at large. Harlan is accused of soliciting, aiding, and abetting deceptive election practices involving forged signatures and false declarations by signature gatherers. The investigation centers on fraudulent petition signatures allegedly used to qualify independent U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar and independent U.S. House candidate Mike Eisenhauer for the ballot. Both campaigns had retained a company called Ballot Access Marketing, LLC, to assist with signature gathering. The irregularities were discovered in May by Cascade County elections office employees, who noticed anomalies in four petition packets, including a signature belonging to an election employee’s adult daughter who had moved out of state. County Attorney Josh Racki emphasized that the investigation found no wrongdoing by the candidates themselves, noting that both campaigns cooperated fully with authorities and that the ballots in question were not counted toward qualification requirements. Harlan is believed to have engaged in similar practices in North Carolina. A driver’s license on file, which expired in 2020, lists Harlan as being between 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet tall, weighing 210 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen and Cascade County Elections Administrator Terry Thompson joined law enforcement to update the public, stressing the importance of secure elections and potential legislative changes to prevent future incidents. Independent candidate Mike Eisenhauer thanked authorities for their work and called for legislative reforms to improve ballot access for nonpartisan candidates. The case continues to be investigated by Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, with tips potentially directed to local law enforcement.