Election Time: Polls open Tuesday across Lake County
KRISTI NIEMEYER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 weeks, 1 day AGO
Early voters Loni and Jesse Vargas retrieved ballots from Lake County Election Administrator Toni Kramer Tuesday before voting at the election office. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)
Kristi Niemeyer is editor of the Lake County Leader. She learned her newspaper licks at the Mission Valley News and honed them at the helm of the Ronan Pioneer and, eventually, as co-editor of the Leader until 1993. She later launched and published Lively Times, a statewide arts and entertainment monthly (she still publishes the digital version), and produced and edited State of the Arts for the Montana Arts Council and Heart to Heart for St. Luke Community Healthcare. Reach her at editor@leaderadvertiser.com or 406-883-4343. | October 31, 2024 12:00 AM
As of Monday, Lake County Election Administrator Toni Kramer reported that more than 60% of the absentee and early voting ballots had been returned, well in advance of Tuesday's Election Day deadline.
“We have been busy!” she said, adding that so far, “things are running smoothly.”
The deadline to request an absentee ballot for those registered as polling place voters is noon Monday, Nov. 4. Kramer advises those who haven't yet mailed their ballots to drop them off instead at the satellite offices (listed below), at the Lake County Election Office in Polson or at a polling place next Tuesday.
Same-day registration is still available Nov. 5 for new voters and those seeking ballot replacements or needing to change their registration information. The election office, located in the basement of the Lake County Courthouse, is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, and from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays until then.
Kramer reports that of the 14,795 ballots mailed or issued to Lake County voters before Election Day, 9,092 had been returned by Tuesday. Lake County has 22,163 active and inactive voters (those who didn't vote in the 2022 general election or respond to mailed inquiries).
Voters can check the status or their registration and their ballots at the Secretary of State’s Voter Portal, VoteMT.gov. Sample ballots and voter information pamphlets are also available online at sosmt.gov.
Satellite voting locations are open this week at the following locations: Oct. 31, 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Arlee Indian Senior Center; Nov. 1, 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. at the St. Ignatius Indian Senior Center; Nov. 2, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Ronan Indian Senior Center; and Nov. 4, 8 a.m.-noon at the Joe McDonald Health and Fitness Center at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo.
The satellite offices offer the same services as those available at the county election office, including late registration and absentee voting.
Polls across Lake County are open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. on Election Day. For a list of precincts and polling locations, head to www.lakemt.gov/170/Elections or call the Election Office at 406-883-7268.
Kramer says she reports first to the Secretary of State Tuesday night, uploading an initial count after polls close and then updating those numbers every three hours until the count is complete. Statewide election results will be posted at sosmt.gov/elections/results/ with preliminary local results also available at www.lakemt.gov/171/Election-Results on Nov. 6.
The Leader, which goes to press Tuesday, will post election results online Wednesday morning at leaderadvertiser.com and have a follow-up story Nov. 14.