Polls open Tuesday for general election
Polls will open at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2, for residents of Flathead and Lake counties to cast their ballots in the general election.
Polls will close at 8 p.m. Absentee ballots are available through noon Monday, Nov. 1, from the election offices and must be returned by the close of polls. Residents who plan to visit a polling place on Election Day must attend based on their precinct. Local polling locations are:
• Flathead County Precinct 38 — Bethany Lutheran Church, 162 Bridge St.
• Flathead County Precinct 42 — Swan River School, 1205 Swan Highway.
• Lake County Precinct 13 — Ferndale Community Center, 857 S. Ferndale Drive.
• Lake County Precinct 14— Bear Dance Club House, 19269 Montana Highway 35.
• Lake County Precinct 15 — Swan River State Forest Headquarters, 34925 Montana Highway 83.
Those who don’t know their polling place can find out online at https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo.
Election judges will open absentee ballots starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday and begin counting. Ballots from polling places across the Valley will be taken to the election office in the old courthouse building in Kalispell from 8 to 10 p.m. to be tallied.
Three members of the resolution board will convene at noon, with the remaining three joining them at 4 p.m. Made of two teams, including two Republicans, two Democrats and two from another party, the board’s task is to make a nonpartisan determination of voter intent for improperly-marked ballots.
ON THE BALLOT
The following races are among those that will be on the ballot Tuesday, Nov. 2.
At the state level, incumbent Denny Rehberg, a Republican, is being challenged by Democrat Dennis McDonald and Libertarian Mike Fellows for Montana’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Democrat Ken Toole, the incumbent Public Service Commissioner for District 5, is facing Republican Bill Gallagher.
For the position of Montana Supreme Court Justice 4, Beth Baker, a Helena attorney and former deputy attorney general, is competing with Nels Swandal, a state district judge from Wilsall.
Each area also has a number of state legislative positions on the ballot. Those that apply to the Bigfork area include the House District 9 race where incumbent Republican Scott Reichner is being challenged by Democrat Neal Brown. For the local Senate District 5 position, Democrat Edd Blackler is going up against incumbent Verdell Jackson, a Republican.
In Flathead County, the most contested race is that for the open county commissioner seat. Incumbent Joe Brenneman, a Democrat, is facing Republican Pam Holmquist.
A number of other positions in Flathead County are up for election with races that are unopposed or were decided in the primary election in June.
Chuck Curry is the only name on the ballot for sheriff after beating out two fellow Republican candidates in the primaries including incumbent Sheriff Mike Meehan.
The big race in Lake County is the one for the open sheriff position. Current Sheriff Lucky Larson, a Republican, opted not to run for a second term. Candidates are current Lake County Undersheriff Republican Jay Doyle, Democrat Dan Yonkin and Independent candidate Steven R. Kendley.
Lake County also has several positions with only one name on the ballot. That includes Ann Smith Brower for the open county commissioner position. Brower beat out three other Republicans to be the only name on the ballot.
Three judge positions are up for grabs in the voting area.
Flathead County Justice of the Peace David Ortley and Kalispell Municipal Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht are both running for the new district court judge position created by the 2009 Montana Legislature.
For Flathead County Justice of the Peace Department 1, Kalispell attorney Dan Wilson faces public defender Glen Neier.
In department 2, incumbent Mark Sullivan will compete for the judgeship with Flathead County Sheriff’s deputy Travis Bruyer.
The ballot also includes a constitutional convention call and three initiatives — I-105 pertaining to real estate tax, I-161 related to nonresident hunting licenses and I-164 regarding restrictions on payday lenders.
For a complete sample ballot, visit http://flathead.mt.gov/election. For more coverage of individual races including Flathead County commissioner, Lake County sheriff, district court judge and justice of the peace, pick up a copy of the Oct. 28 print edition of the Bigfork Eagle.