MISSOULA — With no indication of what the status of what the coronavirus will be three months from now it is uncertain how it will impact Montana's Primary election in June.
Missoula County leaders want to be ahead of the curve and are planning to send out postcards encouraging more people to vote-by-mail.
Not only is this a presidential year, but with heated races on the ballot for Montana's Congressional seats and state leadership positions, turnout is expected to be strong for June's Primary.
However, with the uncertainties of the COVID-19 outbreak, Missoula County is already moving to encourage more people to vote-by-mail.
Missoula co-commissioner Josh Slotnick said "Doing this is not just for your own safety, it's for the safety of our election judges. Most of our election judges are over 65."
The county is sending out postcards encouraging people to sign up for absentee ballots, and even offering to pay postage.
"These are folks who are going to put themselves on the front line, in very public places, to make sure democracy can work. So do your part and lessen the load on those folks and take advantage of our paid postage mail-in ballot and do it that way," Slotnick added.
The May 5 school elections are already being done entirely as vote-by-mail in Missoula County.
