Administrator gives election tips

Election Day is next Tuesday, Nov. 8, and as of this Monday, 45% of around 14,000 absentee ballots have been returned to the election office in Polson. The county has an estimated 21,294 registered voters in 22 precincts stretching from Arlee to Swan Lake.

Lake County Election Administrator Toni Kramer offers the following tips for voters who haven’t cast ballots yet:

• Check voter registration status and locate your polling location at the Montana Secretary of State’s My Voter Page, https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo/ or call the election office at 406-883-7268.

• To avoid lines, she recommends registering prior to Election Day if possible.

• Bring an acceptable ID to vote. Those include photo identification bearing the elector’s name, such as a driver’s license, tribal, military or student ID, or passport – even a Costco card works. Government-issued IDs with the voter’s name and current address are also acceptable, and might include a voter confirmation card, a Medicaid/Medicare statement, vehicle registration, property tax bill, or SSI document.

• If absentee ballots were not placed in the mail by Nov. 1, Kramer recommends that voters return them to the satellite offices or to the election office in Polson. People may also register to vote, get replacement ballots (if they have damaged their ballot or not received it), and register as absentee at satellite offices, which are open at the following times and locations: Arlee Indian Senior Center, 12:30-7 p.m. Nov. 3-4; Ronan Indian Senior Center, 12:30-7 p.m. Nov. 5; and CSKT Tribal Complex in Pablo, 8 a.m.-noon, Nov. 7. Those services are also available at the Lake County Election Office, open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and until 8 p.m. on Election Day.

• Ballots must arrive in the election office by 8 p.m. Election Day (ballots postmarked on or prior to that date but received after Nov. 8 won’t be counted).

• Her final word of advice: VOTE!