Campaign 2012

Montanans trending towards absentee

Posted: Oct 4, 2012 5:18 PM by Jamie Leary
Updated: Oct 4, 2012 7:11 PM

Absentee ballots are flying out the door in Gallatin County and elsewhere.

Officials have been hard at work behind the scenes keeping up with the increasing demand of absentee ballots.

Monday morning, the first batch of absentee ballots were shipped off.

Officials with the Gallatin County Clerk and Recorders office say already, 60% percent of actively registered voters have filed absentee.

Clerk and recorder Charlotte Mills says she anticipates people will file absentee right up to Election Day.

Mills says voting absentee is becoming more common across Montana. She says it's easier on her staff and more convenient for today's busy lifestyle.

"We see it as a trend throughout Montana that more and more people are voting by absentee and in the primary, 82% percent of the ballots cast were cast by absentee votes and only 18% percent went to the polling place and I'm assuming it's gonna be that way again," said Mills.

The Secretary of State and Chief Elections Officer Linda McCulloch is reminding Montanans they must register to vote by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 9 in order to cast a ballot at the polls or receive an absentee ballot in the mail for the general election. If you miss the deadline, you can still do late registration- right up through the close of the polls on Election Day. But McCulloch says the sooner the better.