By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
As of 5:17 p.m. Tuesday, Gallatin County had received 42,741 absentee ballots, trailing behind Yellowstone and Missoula counties. At the Gallatin County Courthouse, voters waited inside the warm interior of the first floor before heading upstairs to the Elections Department on the second.
There, election workers answer questions about voter registration and replacement ballots. Other voters made a quick stop outside the courthouse, trading their enveloped ballot for an “I VOTED MT” sticker. The county courthouse isn’t the only place where residents can register to vote today. A county elections satellite office at the Montana State University Strand Union Building is also accepting ballots and registering voters until 8 p.m.
Earlier in the day, voters visited a sunny room of Big Sky’s BASE Community Center, the site’s first November election. Election judges shared there’s been a steady flow of voters so far.
It’s an impactful election for federal, state and county ballot items. After votes are counted, Montanans will have decided on two statewide ballot initiatives, their eastern and western U.S. House representatives and a new senator, among other county and city issues on the ballot.
In total, 364,149 absentee ballots in Montana have been received as of 5:17 p.m. Election Day. Unofficial results will begin rolling in after polls close at 8 p.m. today.
