Polls open at 7 a.m. on Election Day

The polling places for Flathead County’s 42 precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

A list of polling places and legislative district maps can be found on the Flathead County Election Department’s webpage at flathead.mt.gov/election. Voters can find their polling place, track an absentee ballot or view a sample ballot by clicking on the My Voter Page button.

To vote in Flathead County elections, a person must be 18 or older on or before the election, be a U.S. citizen, have resided in Montana and Flathead County for at least 30 days and be registered to vote.

Of special note this year is the Election Department’s new location on the second floor of the South Campus Building at 20 11th St. W., Suite 230, in Kalispell. That is where absentee ballots and late registrations will be handled. Ballots also will be tabulated at that location.

County residents who are registering late to vote must appear in person at the Election Department up to and including Election Day, fill out a voter registration card and vote a ballot that they receive from the election office staff.

Applications for absentee ballots must be received by the county Election Department by noon the day before the election. If a voter drops off an application he or she will be able to pick up the absentee ballot at the same time.

Absentee ballots must be received at the Election Department or polling place by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

As of Nov. 3, a total of 27,458 absentee ballots had been requested, according to Election Manager Monica Eisenzimer, and there were 66,311 registered voters in Flathead County.

Absentee voting has become more popular in recent years. During the June primary election absentee ballots accounted for 60.85 percent of the total votes cast.

For more information about voting procedures, go on-line to flathead.mt.gov/election or go to the Montana Secretary of State website, sos.mt.gov/Elections.