Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday

| June 5, 2006 1:00 AM

Tuesday is primary election day in Flathead County.

Most of the county's 30 polling places open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on election day, except for two that are open from noon to 8 p.m.: Essex and Pleasant Valley.

A long list of decisions awaits voters, ranging from choices for U.S. Senate and Montana Legislature to taxation questions.

Voters should be aware that most of them will vote at different locations on Tuesday.

The Flathead County Election Department consolidated 22 polling places into eight and moved 24 to new locations.

When voters arrive at their precincts, they will receive two paper ballots - one listing the Democratic candidates and one with the Republicans. Voters will decide which ballot to cast; the other will be discarded.

The voted ballots will be collected and scanned throughout the day. Each precinct will have its own electronic tabulator, which will store all of the results on a memory card. After the polling stations close, the tabulators will be brought back to the Election Department and the results compiled.

Voters are reminded to being identification with them to the polls.

Voters with questions should contact the election office at 758-5535.

More voting information, including sample ballots, is available on the Election Department's Web site: