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Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
According to Montana’s Secretary of State, one of three registered voters cast ballots in the 3 June 2014 primary election — and that’s the best case scenario. The most useful turnout statistic is ballots cast as a percentage of the Voting Eligible Population — and by that statistic, Montana’s primary turnout was 27.6 percent, just two tenths of a percent better than the turnout in the 2010 primary.
In the graph below, I’ve charted the VEP turnout for Montana primaries for 1972–2014, and the percentage of ballots cast by absentee ballot. I see nothing in these numbers to suggest that early voting and mail voting increase turnout.
In Flathead County, 60,587 voters were registered, and 17,369 ballots were cast, 10,038 by mail/absentee. The registered voter turnout was 28.7 percent. VEP data are not available at the county level, but at the statewide level registered voters comprise 84 percent of the VEP. Assuming that ratio holds for Flathead County, and it probably does, the Flathead VEP turnout was 24 percent. This is troubling.