How to make it to the ballot box this election

It’s time for Bozeman’s municipal elections — and local organizations like Forward Montana and MontPIRG have been working to get students and community members to the polls. If you haven’t registered, fret not! There is still time. 

Municipal elections in Bozeman happen every two years, according to the City of Bozeman’s website. 

“The decisions made by the commission are ones that actually affect our day-to-day lives,” said Carl Anderson, the Bozeman-Billings regional director at MontPIRG. “And it's a place where we can actually have an appreciable impact.”

By now, the deadline to mail in your ballot has passed, but opportunities to register and get your vote turned in have not. Regardless of whether or not you have residency in Montana, you are still eligible to vote here. 

“You only have to live in Montana for 30 days before the next election to register to vote. So, if you've been here in the month of October, you can vote in this November's election,” said Emma Forster, MSU’s campus organizer for Forward Montana. 

According to Montana law, you must provide either a Montana driver’s license or the last four digits of your Social Security Number to register in order. You may use alternative forms of photo ID listed on the Secretary of State website, although the process is not as streamlined. If you opt to bring a non-government-sponsored form of ID, you will need a photocopy of the ID as well as the hard copy of the ID when you turn in your registration.

This year’s municipal election is strictly mail-in. This means all ballots need to be delivered to the Gallatin Valley Elections Office on the second floor of 311 W. Main Street by 8 p.m. on Nov 4. No other polling locations will be open or receiving ballots and ballots postmarked after Oct. 28 will be rejected. 

For residents of Montana, or those who don’t know if they are registered, the Secretary of State websitehas a voter portal where people can check their registration status and track their ballots. 

Forster said registering to vote only takes a matter of minutes. 

“Once you get physically into the elections office with your form, it's a matter of handing it over,” she said. “If you're filling it out there or at home, a minute and a half, two minutes. You genuinely just fill out your personal info, your ID, your address and you sign it.” 

During the 2025 legislative session, HB 719 was passed, which requires all voters to put their birth year on the outer security envelope of their ballot. Ballots that do not include a birth year will be rejected. 

“There's a little red box underneath the signature with four digits, and you have to write your birth year in that as well,” Forster said. “We've already seen in some of the preliminary counting — in Missoula County specifically — a higher rejection rate because of that.” 

Each year, Forward Montana compiles a voter’s guide in order to help people make informed decisions on the candidates. The guide is available online and details the roles of the mayor, commissioner and municipal judge, as well as an explanation of the water adequacy for residential development initiative. 

“[The guide] gives you an idea of general big idea questions about candidates, because a lot of those things on an actual ballot are written in legal language that people don't necessarily understand at first glance when they're trying to vote,” Forster said.