Process Tours
We encourage voters to educate themselves on the processes the County follows to conduct accurate, accessible and secure elections and invites members of the public and media to tour these processes leading up to and after Election Day.
Join us on a tour!
The following tours will take place in the Elections Center, located at 140 N. Russell St. in Missoula:
- 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27: Election equipment testing.
Elections staff will test the tabulators used to count ballots to ensure they are working properly ahead of Election Day. They will also test the ADA-compliant ExpressVote ballot marking devices to ensure they are operating correctly for drop-off locations on Election Day. - 10:45 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29: Ballot processing.
Attendees will observe staff and volunteers following the multi-step process used to verify signatures, process ballots and ensure that each ballot cast is counted. - 8:45 a.m. Monday, Nov. 2: Ballot tabulation.
Attendees will observe staff conducting the final test of equipment, as well as the counting and retention process for voted ballots. - 2:45 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9: Provisional ballot count.
Attendees will observe staff counting any accepted provisional ballots for the election. - 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 12: Post-election audit.
Attendees will observe the process used to confirm that equipment worked correctly during the election. This is an audit of any ballot counting machines used during the election. It is completed by comparing a hand-count of ballots to the results from the equipment. - 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17: Election canvass.
State law requires the Elections Office and three county elected officials to verify the election with a canvass. The canvass ensures the number of ballots voted are the number of ballots counted and that no ballots are missing or counted more than once. Media and public are invited to observe the canvass with the Missoula County commissioners and elections staff.
If you have a specific process you are hoping to see, or have a group you'd like to bring to a tour, contact our office to coordinate.
Still have questions?
Please don't hesitate to contact the Elections Office with any questions you have about elections. The friendly staff are happy to help you feel confident in the process!
Phone: 406-258-4751
Location: 140 N. Russell St.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Closed on federal holidays (except Election Day, of course!).
How elections work
Curious what happens to your mail ballot after you send it in? The Missoula County Elections Office takes the following steps to ensure integrity when processing and counting ballots for an election:
- A ballot style is the unique combination of contests and candidates that will appear on a voter's ballot, depending on what jurisdictions they live in within the county.
- This is called a BP-34 report.
- They attach that report to that bundle.
- The ballots are still in both their secrecy and affirmation envelopes at this time.
- Affirmation envelopes are placed on a spindle to ensure that no secrecy envelope containing a ballot remains in the affirmation envelope. This is another physical double-check of the envelopes and ballots.
- The empty affirmation envelopes are stored daily and sealed for records retention.
- Envelopes with return postage and changes to voter mailing addresses are stored separately for processing.
Working in teams of two using the report generated in Step 7, election judges confirm the number of secrecy envelopes matches the number on the reconciliation report and confirms that there is only one voted ballot and that it is the correct style and for the current election.
- Mis-sorted or voided ballots are tracked on the accompanying report.
- Ballots are sealed and securely stored under video surveillance for vote counting.
- When the Elections Office reports the number of ballots accepted, it is not from a manual count, but a report generated by the Secretary of State's voter database, based on the unique barcodes scanned into the system.
- In federal elections, a post-election audit is completed where the Secretary of State’s office randomly selects precincts and races for a hand recount to ensure that election tabulators functioned correctly.