It’s Now Too Late to Mail in Your Missoula Ballot

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - If you’ve been putting off filling out and mailing back your municipal election ballot for mayor and city council, Missoula County Elections Administrator Bradley Seaman told KGVO News on Tuesday that it is too late to guarantee delivery on time via the mail.

It is Now Too Late to Mail in your Municipal Election Ballot

“We are in the middle of our upcoming municipal general election where the Election Day will be next Tuesday, November 7, and ballots went out a little over a week ago,” began Seaman. “So if you haven't seen your ballot yet, get in touch with our office to make sure that you get the opportunity to vote in this election. We have a big day because Tuesday was the last day that the USPS recommends that voters mail their ballot back in for the November 7 election.”

Seaman was disappointed to report that the voter turnout so far is very low.

Seaman was Disappointed in the Voter Turnout Thus Far

“We are tracking with our historical turnout, which is pretty low,” he said. “We're at about 28 percent ballot return rate. So that's the number of voters who got a ballot compared to the number of voters who returned their ballot. So we sent out just over 45,000 ballots, and we have just under 13,000 ballots back in. Historically we're tracking where we've been at in the past, and on election day, we expect to see this turnout or return rate around 45 percent," (which is still less than half.)

Seaman stated the obvious, that the election of a mayor and city council member directly affects how we live in Missoula on an everyday basis.

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Those Eligible can Still Register and Vote at the Election Center on North Russell

“This is such an important election,” he said. “Your mayor and your city council people can make decisions that impact you. And you can feel that so much more directly than the decisions made by your president or your senator. And so we always want to encourage people to make an informed decision and return those ballots. In order to be a registered voter in the state of Montana, you must be a U.S. citizen. These are self-affirming forms. There's going to be a checkbox at the top that asks: Are you a citizen? Are you 18 years of age? And have you lived in Montana for at least 30 days?"

Missoula residents can still register to vote and bring their ballot to the Missoula County Election Office at 140 North Russell.