Elections Office issues voting timeline

Lake County will be conducting the November 3 General Election by mail ballot with an in-person option at the Election Office in the courthouse. Regular polling locations will not be open on Election Day.

Ballots must be in the Election Office by 8 p.m. Election Day, Nov. 3, to be accepted; even if postmarked prior to that date, ballots arriving in the office after 8 p.m. will not be accepted.

Election Administrator Katie Harding outlined the following timeline:

October 2 — early voting, in-person at the Elections Office in the Lake County Courthouse begins. From 8 a.m., Fri., Oct. 2 through noon, Mon., Nov. 2, voters may come into the Lake County Election Office and request to pick up their ballot in-person. They may then either vote the ballot in a poll booth or take the ballot home to vote and mail back or drop off in-person before 8 p.m. on Election Day. Due to social distancing and spacing requirements voters may expect a wait time.

Oct. 9 — ballots will be mailed to all active, registered voters and provisional voters in Lake County. Any voter who does not wish to mail their ballot back can drop their ballot off at the Lake County Election Office 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday, with extended hours 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. Due to the federal holiday in October, the office will be closed on October 12.

Oct. 26 — Close of regular registration. Up through this date, voters may register at the Election Office or mail in their registration form. Registration forms postmarked by October 26 and received by October 29 will be accepted as regular registration.

Oct. 27 — Beginning of late registration. Individuals wishing to register to vote or update their information for this election, must appear in-person at the Lake County Election Office after this date.

Nov. 3 — Election Day. Voters may register, vote in-person, or drop ballots off at the Election Office 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

To check your voter status, see where your ballot will be mailed, or track your ballot, go to https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo/ or call (406) 883-7268.

Harding says the best way for individuals to register to vote or update their information is to either download a voter registration application from the Secretary of State’s website https://sosmt.gov/elections or the county’s website www.lakemt.gov. Individuals may also register in-person at the Election Office or call (406) 883-7268 to have an application mailed or emailed to them.