MISSOULA — The Missoula County Elections Office is encouraging voters to cast and drop off their ballots as soon as possible, with 43% of general election mail ballots already accepted.
Returning a ballot early ensures voters have adequate time to resolve signature verification or other issues. Because Election Day is one week away, absentee voters should use a drop box instead of returning their ballot by mail. The U.S. Postal Service cannot guarantee that ballots will arrive on time if mailed within seven days of Election Day.
Residents planning to vote in person on Tuesday, Nov. 3, are encouraged to find their polling place by visiting myvoterpagemt.com.
Ballot drop-off options
From now until Monday, Nov. 2, voters can drop off their ballots at the Elections Center, 140 N. Russell St. in Missoula. A secure, 24-hour drop box is available on the north side of Building B.
The Elections Office will offer these additional ballot drop-off options leading up to and on Election Day:
- Monday, Nov. 2, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: McCormick Park, 600 Cregg Lane (drive-thru)
- Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.:
- McCormick Park, 600 Cregg Lane (drive-thru)
- Hellgate Elementary baseball fields, north of the school at 2385 Flynn Lane (drive-thru)
- Russell Street, between the Missoula County Fairgrounds and the YMCA (drive-thru)
- Any polling place; see a complete list online. No drive-thru option available.
Voter registration
Because the election is fewer than 30 days away, residents who need to register to vote or make changes to their registration, such as updating their address or name, must now do so in person at the Missoula County Elections Center or a voter services event.
Voter registration and other services are available at the Elections Center during the following times:
- 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, Oct. 26-30
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31
- 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Nov. 2
Information on upcoming voter services events can be found at missoula.co/currentelection.
While voter registration will be available on Election Day, election officials encourage residents to register or update their registration before Nov. 3 if possible. Based on previous elections, wait times to register to vote on Election Day could be up to three hours, while current wait times at the Elections Center are less than 10 minutes.
All elections processes are public, and elections staff continue to hold tours for members of the public and media who would like to learn more about election processes. A complete list of election process tours is online at missoula.co/currentelection.
