It May be Too Late to Mail in Your Missoula Ballot

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - With the ballot deadline of Tuesday, September 12, Missoula County Elections Administrator Bradley Seaman told KGVO News on Wednesday, that it may be too late to mail your municipal election ballot for it to be received and counted by Election Day, especially since only a small percentage of ballots had been received as of Wednesday.

“For ballot returns, we've gotten back 21 percent of the ballots that we sent out for this election so far,” began Seaman. “We're doing okay, following through to the last municipal primary election. We were at 44 and a half percent last Election Day. We have started to see our ballots come in, and we want to encourage everybody to make sure their ballot gets returned to our office.”

So Far, only 21 Percent of Municipal Ballots have been Returned

Seaman said the City of Missoula has made it as convenient as possible to drop off your ballots by the Election Day deadline.

“On Election Day, we're going to have a ballot drop off in each ward,” he said. “So in every city ward, we're going to have a ballot drop off. We'll have one at the (Missoula County) Fairgrounds, between the fairgrounds and the YMCA off Russell Street. We'll have one at the Missoula Public Library, one at Hellgate Elementary School, one at the former Cold Springs School, one at C.S. Porter Middle School, and then of course we’ll be open here (at the Missoula County Elections Center at 120 North Russell) from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. as well.”

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All Ballots Must be Received by 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Election Day

For those still planning to mail in their ballot, Seaman had this comment.

“A postmark doesn't apply, so when we mailed out our ballot most voters got them the next day, but in order to make sure your ballot counts we recommend a drop location because in Montana a postmark does not apply. It needs to be received by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.”

Seaman had one more comment to encourage Missoula residents to participate in the Municipal Election to choose mayoral and city council candidates.

Go to the Election Center at 140 N. Russell to Register or Drop off a Ballot

“We do everything we can to make that easy by getting those ballots out in the mail, prepaid postage, drive through drop off between the Fairgrounds and the YMCA and then drop-off locations in your community, so if you do need service or if you haven't seen a ballot reach out to us, and we're going to make sure you get a chance to vote in this important election.”

The U.S. Postal Service recommends mailing ballots no later than seven days before the election, which was Tuesday, September 5.

Click here for details on the importance of voting in local municipal elections.