Local absentee balloting on record pace

Flathead County is on track to set a record for early voting in the Nov. 6 general election, with 21,946 absentee ballots issued as of Wednesday.

That represents just over 36 percent of the 60,130 registered voters in the county.

For the 2008 presidential election, the county sent out more than 20,000 absentee ballots and 19,000 were returned.

Absentee ballots are being returned to the county election department at a good pace, elections Deputy Monica Eisenzimer said. A count on Wednesday showed 8,653 ballots returned. She said it’s difficult to determine how many more absentee ballots will be sent out.

Registered voters may request absentee ballots by going to the election office, which is temporarily located in the Country Fair Kitchen at the Flathead County Fairgrounds at 265 N. Meridian Road in Kalispell.

Voters can get an absentee ballot there, take it home and mail it back or return it in person. Voters also may fill out their absentee ballots at the election office. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Voters also may submit written requests to have absentee ballots mailed to them. Those requests should be sent to the elections office at 800 S. Main St., Room 115, Kalispell, MT 59901.

Absentee ballot request forms also may be downloaded from the county website at http://flathead.mt.gov/election or on the Montana Secretary of State’s website at sos.mt.gov/Elections.

The postage is 65 cents to mail back an absentee ballot. It’s higher than normal because this year’s ballot contains an extra sheet.

“There’s an insert [in the absentee ballot envelope] explaining the postage,” Eisenzimer said.

Absentee voters are reminded that they must sign the voter affirmation on the inside fold of the absentee ballot return envelope.

Anticipating a high voter turnout, election officials are urging people to check sooner rather than later to see if they’re registered to vote.

Those who procrastinate can still register until noon on Nov. 5 and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, but if they have moved within the county or have moved here from another Montana county, they will fill out provisional ballots that won’t be counted until a week after the election. “It’s best if people can register by Nov. 2,” Eisenzimer said.

Voters who lose their ballots may have new ballots re-issued by going to the county election office at any time until noon on Monday, Nov. 5, and the ballots won’t be counted as provisional ballots. 

If voters go to the polls on Election Day because they lost their absentee ballots, then those will be counted as provisional ballots.

The fairgrounds will be a flurry of activity on election night.

The Trade Center building will accommodate polls for 11 precincts. The Expo Building will be used for processing and counting ballots, and the Country Fair Kitchen will handle late voter registration and provisional ballots.