CASCADE COUNTY, Mont. — Police are searching for a man who faces multiple charges in connection with a Cascade County petition signature investigation, according to the Cascade County Attorney's Office.
Nathan Ross Harlan faces four misdemeanor counts of accountability for deceptive election practices, according to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office. He faces the charges in connection with allegedly forged signatures submitted on candidate nomination petitions in 2026. Each charge is tied to a separate petition packet.
The county attorney’s office said the signatures in question were not counted toward requirements for candidates to qualify for the ballot. Investigators found no wrongdoing by either candidate, noting that both campaigns cooperated with the investigation.
The case stems from signature-gathering efforts in spring 2026 for independent U.S. Senate candidate Seth Bodnar and independent U.S. House candidate Michael Eisenhauer, according to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office.
According to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office, the campaigns hired Ballot Access Marketing LLC, which subcontracted signature-gathering work to Harlan and his company, Sun Belt Strategies.
Cascade County Elections Office employees noticed similar handwriting across petition entries in May and found signatures that did not match voter records, according to the county attorney’s office.
Investigators later reached out to voters in each of four petition packets who said they had not signed the petitions, according to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office.
Authorities are seeking the public's assistance in gathering information about Harlan’s whereabouts. Previous addresses associated with Harlan were in Ohio, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, West Virginia, Nevada, Arizona and Alabama, according to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office.
The Cascade County Attorney’s Office says Harlan was listed as 5 feet 9 inches tall and 210 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, according to a driver's license record that expired in 2020.
Anyone with information about Harlan’s whereabouts is asked to contact Detective Allison with the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office. Allison can be called at 406-836-0010 or emailed at nallison@cascadecountymt.gov.
Authorities, including Cascade County prosecutors and members of the sheriff's office and Montana Secretary of State's Office, will hold a press conference on Wednesday at 8 a.m.
