Election ballots must be returned by Tuesday

Voters are running out of time to complete and return the ballots they received in the mail for city elections under way in Kalispell and Whitefish.

Ballots must be returned to the Flathead County Election Department and received by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, according to Election Supervisor Monica Eisenzimer.

The ballots were mailed out to registered voters in the two cities on Oct. 19 and everyone should have gotten one by now.

"If [someone] didn't receive [a ballot] they should call us. They're either not registered or moved or are inactive, and any of those things we can help them with," Eisenzimer said.

Voters can mail their completed ballots back to the Flathead County Election Department or drop them off in person at its temporary office on the third floor of the Earl Bennett Building at 1035 First Ave. West in Kalispell.

The election department is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

People can still register to vote in the elections up until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, Eisenzimer said.

This is Kalispell's first mail-in ballot election for city council positions, and there is no drop box at Kalispell City Hall.

Whitefish voters may drop off their completed ballots at Whitefish City Hall.

Eisenzimer said that 10,874 ballots were mailed out in Kalispell. As of Wednesday morning, 2,334 had been returned.

In Whitefish, 3,972 ballots were mailed out and 1,463 had been returned, she said.

Columbia Falls will conduct a poll election for its City Council positions. City Hall is the polling place and will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8.

For more information, call the Flathead County Election Department at 758-5535.

For full information on candidates and election issues, go to www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_elections.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.