¶224 But the legislature did not do that. Instead, it indicated that the ballot be delivered "to the municipal clerk," not to the clerk's office. Conflating "municipal clerk" with "office of the municipal clerk" is not——as the majority/lead opinion claims——the "fairest interpretation" of the statute. See majority/lead op., ¶62. Instead, it is a rank distortion of the statutory text. ¶225 Can delivery to a drop box constitute delivery "to the municipal clerk?" Absolutely. A drop box is set up by the municipal clerk, maintained by the municipal clerk, and emptied by the municipal clerk. This is true even if the drop box is located somewhere other than within the municipal clerk's office. As stated, the "municipal clerk" in the statutes is a person, and the "office of the municipal clerk" is a location. Applying this principle, there is nothing in the statute that even hints that unstaffed drop boxes are impermissible. Rather, a drop box, which the clerk or the clerk's designee10 sets up,maintains, and empties, is simply another way to deliver a ballot "to the municipal clerk."11 The majority/lead opinion's attempt to avoid the statute's plain language fails. |
