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With elections just days away, Flathead County officials report overwhelming demand for early voting
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With elections just days away, Flathead County officials report overwhelming demand for early voting

With less than a week until Election Day, Flathead County officials are reporting overwhelming demand for early voting, putting pressure on the already strained Elections Department.

The Flathead County Elections Department issued 21,015 unique absentee ballots as of Wednesday afternoon. One-time absentee ballots are issued to voters who are registered to vote in person, but who show up to the elections office early and wish to vote. The unique absentee ballots are separate from the 53,642 absentee ballots mailed to Flathead County voters last month.

As of Wednesday, 30,253 of the 53,642 absentee ballots mailed in Flathead County had been returned.

Flathead County Acting Elections Director Paula Buff said the rush for early voting has strained the department, which must balance a plethora of election-related tasks. The department was forced to reassign staff to help with early voting, which took resources away from other critical functions. With just one person to answer the phone, the department must listen to and respond to 80 to 90 voicemails a night, Buff said.

“We’re basically working with a skeleton crew and doing the best we can,” she said.

Buff called the reallocation of resources toward early voting “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Election administrators believe the demand for early voting comes from candidates’ speeches and advertisements urging voters to vote before Election Day.

Elections Supervisor Christina Glatz stressed that every valid vote will be counted, whether cast by mail or at the polls on Election Day.

Even though Montana election officials have reported bullying And harassment from groups alleging election fraud Following the 2020 election, Flathead County officials said they had very few problems with individuals alleging fraud or misconduct this year.

Election administrators said voters should not expect results to be known immediately on election night. Polling stations close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and the election service can begin uploading results when the last person in line has voted. Anyone in line at their polling station before 8 p.m. is allowed to vote. This means it could take a few minutes or hours after 8 p.m. for the last voter to vote.

Montanans can register to vote until 8 p.m. on Election Day. On Monday – the day before the election – voter registration will close at noon and will not reopen until 7 a.m. on Election Day, when the election office reopens.

Voters can check their voter registration and voting location hereas well as find out which House and Senate district they live in.

Learn more about legislative candidates in the Flathead and Tobacco Valleys here.

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