Area voters go to the polls today for Montana’s primary election.

Most polling places in Flathead County will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today for the primary election.

Only the Halfway Restaurant on U.S. 2 and Pleasant Valley School have different voting hours: noon to 8 p.m.

The election will decide Democratic or Republican nominees to advance to November’s general election.

In Flathead County, two crowded ballot races headline election choices.

There are seven Republican candidates for the two-year vacancy in District 1 left by the death of Commissioner Jim Dupont in March.

In District 3 there are five Republicans in the primary run-off for the seat held by retiring Commissioner Dale Lauman.

All county voters may vote in both commissioner races. Voters today, however, have to choose either a Republican or Democratic ballot for all primary races.

Other notable local election races include:

• A three-way race for District Court judge in Department 2 between Robert Allison, Bruce Fredrickson and Daniel Wilson. The top two vote-getters from the primary election advance to a November election showdown.

• For District Court Department 3, Vanessa Ceravolo and Heidi Ulbricht are on the ballot. Both advance to the November election.

Voters using either Republican or Democratic ballots can vote on the nonpartisan judicial races.

• One Democratic primary race in House District 4 between Ed Lieser and Tom Muri. The winner faces Republican Tim Baldwin in November.

• A three-way race involving Bill Beck, Suzanne Brooks and Dee Brown for the GOP nomination in state Senate District 2. The winner faces Democrat David Fern in November.

• A contest between Republican incumbent Bruce Tutvedt and challenger Rollan Roberts II for the state Senate District 3 nomination. A third GOP candidate, Jayson Peters, is on the ballot but has withdrawn his candidacy. The Republican winner faces Democrat Shannon Hanson in November.

• A three-way Republican contest in state Senate District 6 among Mike Larson, incumbent Carmine Mowbray and Janna Taylor. There is no Democratic opponent in the November election.

• In state House District 9, Frank Mutch is challenging incumbent Scott Reichner for the Republican nomination. The winner faces Democrat Rodrik Brosten in November.

In statewide races, voters can choose among:

• Seven Republican candidates or two Democratic candidates for governor.

• Four GOP candidates for secretary of state.

• Two Democratic candidates or two Republican candidates for attorney general.

• Seven Democratic candidates or three GOP candidates for each party’s nomination for U.S. House of Representatives.

• Three candidates for one Montana Supreme Court seat and two candidates for another high court position.

• Four GOP candidates for U.S. president.

• Two GOP candidates for U.S. Senate.

The majority of Kalispell precincts vote at the Trade Center at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

The temporary county election headquarters are at the Country Fair Kitchen at the fairgrounds.

Absentee ballots must be received at the election office by 8 p.m. today. As of Monday morning, more than 7,000 voters in Flathead County (out of 12,581 who had been sent absentee ballots) had returned their ballots.

Statewide, a record 188,111 absentee ballots had been sent out for the primary election.

People still can register to vote at the Country Fair Kitchen until 8 p.m. today.

The election office phone number is 758-5535.

If you want to check your voter registration status, find out where to vote or check a sample ballot, go to https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo.

Full election preview information on all local races can be found online at www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_elections.

The Inter Lake website also will be updated throughout election night with local results.