Updated at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 4
Polls closed at 8 p.m. across Montana.
In Cascade County, operations went smoothly, according to county officials and poll watchers.
As of 10:30 a.m., 29,763 ballots had been counted, which includes a mix of absentee and poll voters.
Results are not final until the county canvass, which is scheduled for Nov. 17.
Around midnight, Terry Thompson, county election administrator, said 72 percent of absentee ballots had been returned.
She said that the office had issued 37,655 absentee ballots and 27,051 had been returned.
There are 125 rejected ballots, but elections staff were working to resolve those issues and had cleared 11 by midnight.
Those ballots were rejected for missing or mismatched signatures.
Those voters are contacted by elections staff and have until 5 p.m. Nov. 4 to resolve the issue to have their ballot counted.
Of the absentee ballots mailed, 1,082 were undeliverable, and 8,359 were not returned to the elections office, according to Thompson.
Thompson said voters came in steadily at Exhibition Hall in Expo Park on Tuesday, but the line cleared before 8 p.m., when polls closed.
She said the office’s extended hours were helpful and their busiest day was Oct. 31.
“I think it was worth it,” Thompson said.
She had additional staff helping with ballot processing and a group of county employees helped scan 1,100 to 2,000 ballots every night for the last few weeks so that they were prepared to tabulate as soon as statute allowed on Nov. 3.
The office has accepted 21,190 ballots by 8 p.m. on Nov. 2.
Thompson also worked to coordinate the process to time when staff and volunteers were working at Exhibition Hall to improve efficiency.
As of midnight, Thompson said military and overseas voters, poll and some absentee ballots were left to count, likely less than 1,000 ballots.
As of 10:30 a.m., here are the preliminary results in Cascade County.
Cascade County Commission
Tom Lynch (R): 16,521
Barbara Bessette (D) (did not respond to questionnaire): 112,463
Sheriff
Jesse Slaughter (R): 22,695
County Attorney
Josh Racki (R): 22,266
Clerk and Recorder
Lynn Deroche (R): 22,634
Treasurer/Superintendent of Schools
Diane Heikkila (R): 22,548
Public Administrator
Gerald Boland: 19,678
Justice of the Peace, Department 1
Brian Bebbington: 15,175
Robert Polich (did not respond to questionnaire): 8,608
Justice of the Peace, Department 2
Should Steven Fagenstrom be retained?
Yes: 23,901
No: 3,093
District Court Judge
Should John Parker be retained?
Yes: 22,188
No: 4,584
State Races
Public Service Commission
District 1
Jeff Pattison (R): 10,557
Angeline Cheek (D): 9,242
District 2
Annie Bukacek (R): 5,052
Kevin Hamm (D): 3,132
Supreme Court
Amy Eddy: 17,430
Dan Wilson: 10,738
State Senate District 10
Jessica Dyrdahl (R): 2,832
Margaret Mitchell (D): 3,701
State Senate District 11
Steven Galloway (R): 3,679
Valynda Holland (D): 3,087
State Senate District 12
George Nikolakakos (R): 3,964
Mindy Leach (D): 3,646
State Representative District 19
Hannah Trebas (R): 925
Jane Weber (D): 1,657
State Representative District 20
Melissa Nikolakakos (R): 1,940
Steve Keller (D): 1,986
State Representative District 21
Trevor Funseth (R): 2,510
Lela Graham (D): 1,798
State Representative District 22
Jason Lorang (R): 1,353
Neal Miller (D): 1,146
State Representative District 23
Eric Tilleman (R): 1,847
Rebecca Bogden-Richards (D): 1,746
State Representative District 24
Steve Fitzpatrick (R): 2,355
Pam Carroll (D): 1,685
State Representative District 25
Steve Gist (R): 2,988
Jerry Ferderer (D): 1,243
State Representative District 26
Russel Miner (R): 2,083
Paul Jefferson (D): 971
State Representative District 78
Randyn Gregg (R): 645
Mark White (D): 213
Congressional Races
U.S. Senate
Kurt Alme (R): 14,188
Alani Bankhead (D): 4,158
Kyle Austin (L): 514
Seth Bodnar (I): 10,647
U.S. House of Representatives
Troy Downing (R): 15,653
Brian Miller (D): 10,575
Michael Eisenhauer (I): 2,704
Patrick McCracken (L): 462
Ballot Initiatives
CI-132
Yes: 20,061
No: 8,728
CI-133
Yes: 18,773
No: 9,433
I-194
Yes: 19,014
No: 9,208
