BUTTE — A day after the general election here in the United States, data from the Montana Secretary of State’s office says big sky country once again has high voter turnout comparatively.
"We have been busy all day long. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people voting and it's just thrilling to see," said Heatherlynn Meeks, an election official who has been volunteering for almost two decades at the polls in Butte-Silver Bow.
Meeks' unofficial observation of voter turnout seemed to echo throughout the polls on Nov. 5 but according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website, statewide 71% of Montana’s 802,174 registered voters cast ballots.
"Most of the ballots that went out before the election started had been turned in by Friday of this last week," says Meeks.
Meeks says most voters were able to pop in and fill out their ballots without much wait time, but for people who needed to register to vote, the wait time was around three hours.
"It just gives me a lot of pride to be able to do something like this," says Jada Osborne, a first-time voter who headed to the polls with her 18-year-old sister.
"Um, it’s a bit long, a lot longer than I expected but I think it’s worth it."
According to the Secretary of State’s website, Montana historically has a robust voter turnout but while eyeball estimates from poll workers seemed to reveal high numbers, turnout in 2024 wasn’t quite as high as the past four years. For example, in 2020 Montana saw 81% of voters cast ballots in the general election.
