ballot

18,000+ absentee ballots in Gallatin County so far

The Gallatin County Clerk and Recorder’s Office received 18,304 absentee ballots as of 12:30 p.m on June 1.

The office is in the process of verifying the legitimacy of all the ballots with 15,579 accepted thus far. The ballots can't legally be opened until eight p.m. on June 2.

“We can start counting on Monday, but we cannot look at the results," said Eric Semerad, Gallatin County election administrator. "There’s actually a $250,000 fine if we do."

The only issues they’ve faced so far are the standard issues that come with primary elections, per Semerad.

Ballots are rejected by the county if the birth year isn’t included and if a voter returns more than one party ballot.

To resolve these issues, the office calls or emails voters, asking them to come to the office and fix their ballot. Letters were already sent out requesting some fix their ballots.

“If that doesn’t get resolved, then we won’t be counting those ballots,” Semerad said.

During last November’s election and the school boards election in May, Gallatin County saw “fairly high rates” of people not including their full birth date. Although less than 1% of ballots were returned this election, this issue persists, per Semerad.

“You must include the four-digit birth year. It will be rejected if not included,” Semerad said.

Voters can fix their ballot up until five p.m. on June 3, one day after the election.

Gallatin County polling locations

Hours: Election Day, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

-Bridger Canyon Fire Station, 8081 Bridger Canyon Road, Bozeman

-Gallatin County Fairgrounds, 901 N Black Avenue, Bozeman

-Hope Lutheran Church, 2152 West Graf Street, Bozeman

-Gallatin Gateway Community Center, 145 Mill Sreet, Gallatin Gateway

-Base Community Center, 285 Simkins Driver, Big Sky

-Povah Community Center, 10 Geyser Street, West Yellowstone

-Montana State University Student Wellness Center, 1 Bobcat Circle, Bozeman

-Zoot Enterprises, 555 Zoot Enterprises Lane, Bozeman