Voter turnout for primary exceeds 40 percent

By CAMDEN EASTERLING Chronicle Staff Writer

Turnout for Bozeman's Tuesday mail ballot election was pretty darn good, if you ask people familiar with elections.

In the Bozeman School District's bond issue, 46 percent of voters returned the mail-in ballots, Gallatin County Clerk and Recorder Charlotte Mills said Thursday.

In the city's mayoral and Bozeman City Commission primary races, 42 percent voted.

“Actually, for a primary, it's awesome,” Mills said.

Alec Hansen, executive director of the Montana League of Cities and Towns, agreed.

“Forty-two (percent) is good,” Hansen said. “I think in a primary for a city election, that's pretty good.”

By comparison, 24 percent of Missoula's voters returned mail-in ballots in a recent City Council primary race, according to the Missoulian.

Gallatin County elections officials mailed 23,372 ballots to residents in the Bozeman School District. Of those ballots, 15,159 went to people who also live within Bozeman City limits. For those voters eligible to vote in both elections, both the school and city primary questions were on the same ballot.

Of the total, 1,578 ballots were returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable, she said.

Of those ballots returned, a majority, 65 percent, favored the $17.5 million bond issue to build a new elementary school.

In the city races, more people voted in the mayoral race between incumbent Commissioner Jeff Krauss and challenger Jon Gerster Jr., than in the city commissioners' contest, Mills said.

In that race, Krauss garnered more votes than Gerster, but both names will appear on the general election ballot in November. In the commissioners' race, voters selected Betty Strook and Eric Bryson as candidates for the November election.

Tuesday's turnout in both races, however, was higher than that in the general election two years ago, when three commission seats were up for grabs, and only 19 percent of voters went to the polls, Mills said.

“It's very good compared to the municipal (election),” Mills said.

When asked why, Mills had two words: “Mail ballot.”

Several people who had never before voted in a city race told her that they did this in this primary race, she said. “Because people have the convenience of having the ballot delivered to them."

The most recent comparison for the school bond issue would be the turnout in February, when 44 percent voted to approve a $5.75 million bond to build a new Chief Joseph Middle School.

Reader Comments