Montana polls are busy across the state • Daily Montanan

CERT's Dawn Couch said people were friendly and patient with one another, and some honked and called out their candidates' names.

She said the election staff was “amazing.”

“It went really, really well,” Couch said.

In the parking lot, Logan Kostka looked for a pen to sign his name and cast his ballot. Kostka said women's reproductive rights were a factor in the 2024 election, but not the only one.

“As an LGBTQ+ member, much of the content of Project 2025 literally contradicts my belief system and my nature as a human being,” said 20-year-old Kostka.

Project 2025 is a conservative playbook developed by the Heritage Foundation, other conservative groups and more than 200 former Trump staffers. It contains controversial political ideas such as abolishing the Federal Ministry of Education.

Greg Weller, also with CERT, said traffic came in waves Tuesday morning. As he waited to give instructions to voters, one rolled up with his window open.

“I have to give one up,” said the voter.

At least one polling place near an elementary school in Missoula had no lines out the door.

Shelby Jessop walked down the sidewalk wearing an “I Voted” sticker on her coat. Jessop, whose little girl followed, said abortion was a top issue for her and she sided with Sheehy.

“I think we should all be part of the decisions that are made in our country,” Jessop said. “Honestly, I wish more people would vote.”

In Lewis and Clark County, more than 100 people were in line to vote or update their registration around 11 a.m., while at the same time people were coming in to cast their absentee ballots.

A county elections official told the Daily Montanan it had been “busy as hell” all morning and would likely remain so for the rest of the day.

Montana Secretary of State's Office Elections Director Austin James was at the county elections office to check and said many counties across Montana are experiencing similar levels of activity.

James said he arrived at work at 4 a.m. Tuesday and that a team was working in the office to ensure there were no cyberattacks or other malicious activity at election offices, but he had not reported any problems so far. He said the office will not release a county's results until all eligible voters have voted to ensure their votes are not influenced by the initial results.

Poll workers at four polling places the Daily Montanan visited around Helena in the late morning and early afternoon continued to see a steady flow of voters. Several said lines began at 7 a.m., that voter turnout was much higher than the primary and that they were busy throughout the morning.

In Yellowstone County, polls were filled Tuesday morning. Election officials there said they had not seen such turnout since at least the 2008 election.

Cascade County officials had to create additional space to accommodate long lines of voters waiting to register, the Montana Free Press reported. Social media posts show voters in Gallatin County lined up despite a morning of snow. Nora Shelly of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that some of those voters in Gallatin County stood in line in the snow for four hours. Officials there said they don't expect to get the first results until at least 11 p.m

As of 1:30 p.m., nearly 81% of Montana's 549,080 mail-in voters had returned their ballots – meaning turnout at that point was about 55.6% of voters.

In Kalispell, voters in 27 counties visited the Flathead County Fairgrounds to cast their ballots. Outside, supporters of U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, who is running for re-election to represent Montana's 1st Congressional District, waved signs, blasted music and kept warm under heat lamps.

For a while, Zinke himself was on the sidewalk, waving to the cars lined up toward the fairgrounds. Zinke will spend election night in Whitefish.