Secretary of State Linda McCulloch announced that a record number of candidates have filed for public office in Montana. Filing for Montana’s 2012 election year, which opened at 8 a.m. on Jan. 12, ended at 5 p.m. yesterday.
“Montanans enjoy convenient and secure methods of participating in the elections process,” McCulloch said in a statement. “Online candidate filings surged this year, and a record number of voters are choosing to vote by absentee ballot. I’m confident this will be a strong election year.”
A total of 439 candidates filed in Montana, according to McCulloch’s office, up from 379 in 2010 and 388 in 2008. That number is divided into legislative (325) and non-legislative (114). Those figures include withdrawn filings.
Non-legislative filings include the U.S. Senate and House, state attorney general, governor and secretary of state, and district judges and other positions. Legislative filings consist of candidates running for the Montana House and Senate.
Broken down by party affiliation, the filings include 170 Republicans, 140 Democrats, 11 Libertarians, three Independents and one Green Party, though McCulloch’s office said the Green Party candidate did not meet signature requirements.