The Last Word: The Big Sky State Primary

Obama, Clinton Race Promises High Turnout in Montana Primary

By Robert Struckman, 6-03-08

	ABOVE: Virginia Cleveland, a senior at the University of Montana School of Journalism, exits a polling booth after voting at the Paxson Elementary School in Missoula. MIDDLE: Gerald Fetz inserts his ballot into the electronic ballot counting machine at Paxson Elementary School in Missoula. BOTTOM: Volunteers Phyllis Vining, right, and Inga Riddley check voters' registration details at the Missoula County Court House. They both agree that they have never seen such a good turn-out in the ten years that they have participated in the elections. PHOTOS BY ALEXIA BECKERLING.

Polling places across Montana appear on track for record turnout as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battle down to the wire for the Democratic nomination.

“Oh yeah, we’ll beat our record,” said Bret Rutherford of the elections office in Yellowstone County (seat: Billings) midway through the afternoon. “I think we’ll beat it by 5,000.”

In comparison to general elections, this primary remains quite tame. It lacks the intensity of the November, 2006, election, which featured the heavyweight bout of Sen. Jon Tester versus the ousted Sen. Conrad Burns. In that race, hundreds of new voters waited in line for hours at courthouses across the state.

But compared to past presidential primaries?

Numbers are “very high,” said Bowen Greenwood, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office.

The process has also been pretty smooth. In the late afternoon, Greenwood hadn’t heard of any voting problems, although he had received about 30 calls from reporters. “I’ve had the opportunity to grow my press release list by at least 20,” he said.

Quite a few counties reported sending out huge numbers of absentee ballots—more than the total numbers of voters in past primaries.

Turnout has been steady and strong at the polls, too, in rural counties such as Teton (seat: Choteau).

“It hasn’t been crazy, but it’s been steady. I’m hoping for a few more than usual,” said Paula Jaconetty in Choteau.

In Missoula, volunteers were scrambling to keep up with voters, even running out of pencils at one polling place.

“This is a big, big turn out, which is wonderful,” said a volunteer at the County Courthouse. “It’s just been electric. That’s all I can say.  Everybody, young and old, wants to vote and that’s the way it should be.”

Montana, generally speaking, enjoys relatively high voter turnout for all elections. Since the mid-1990s, primaries generally saw turnout of about 40 percent, according to numbers from the office of the Montana Secretary of State. 

Rural counties in the eastern reaches of the state tend to trend higher. In 2004, Treasure County (county seat: Hysham) set the state record with 60 percent: 389 ballots cast out of 650 registered voters.

“Our population is mostly older people. They’re more consistent with their voting,” said Treasure County elections administrator Ruth Baker.

The elections office in Great Falls has consolidated voting to one site, the Expo Park, where things got a little rambunctios today, said Rina Moore, although voters were getting in and out in under 10 minutes. A pair of deputies had to keep order in the parking lot, where Obama and Clinton supporters gathered along with signature gatherers and protesters.

“We’ve been going full speed ahead,” Moore said.

Out in Hysham, voter turnout looked even better than in 2006.

“I’m pushing for 75,” Baker said.

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