HELENA – Montana’s secretary of state says 16 percent of Montana’s registered voters have returned absentee ballots for the primary election.
Secretary of State Linda McCulloch’s office says more than 102,000 people had voted absentee by Tuesday morning. There are 638,549 registered voters in the state.
McCulloch says the last time Montana held a primary election without a presidential or U.S. Senate race, turnout was just under 27 percent.
McCulloch spokeswoman Terri Knapp says no problems have been reported from any of the polling places across the state, and everything appears to be running smoothly.
The primary will decide party nominations for Congress, 25 state Senate seats and all 100 state House seats. Elections also are being held for state Supreme Court, six district court judgeships and two public service commission spots.