Every voter is now required to enter their birth year below their signature on their mail-in ballot. If they fail to do this, or do it incorrectly, their ballot will not be counted. “Birth year” is the year the voter was born. For example, if you were born on May 15, 1976, enter 1976 in the four-digit window below your signature 

There is NO in-person voting for this election. After of April 28th, ballots MUST be dropped off at the Gallatin County Elections Department or at drop-off locations. If you mail your ballot after April 28th, it might not arrive at the Gallatin County Elections Department by May 5th.

Drive-by ballot drop-off will be available in front of the Gallatin County Courthouse (311 W. Main Street) on Monday, May 4th from 8a-5p and on Tuesday, May 5th from 7a-8p.

For information on the candidates for the Bozeman Elementary School District No. 7 Trustee Election (3 year term), please see:

• Forward Montana’s 2026 School Board Voter Guide
• Bozeman Chronicle – 3/25/2020
• Patrick Zimny campaign website

Review your voter registration at voterportal.mt.gov and complete this checklist.

Is your absentee voter designation correct? Ballots for the June 2nd primary will be mailed on May 8th. (You don’t have much time to sign up for absentee voting!) You can sign up for absentee voting before election day (so you’re ready for November) and pick up an absentee ballot at the Elections Department. 

Check your precinct number and locate your polling place on this list. Depending on when you last voted, your polling place may have changed. You don’t want to drive to Hope Lutheran and find out that you have to vote at the Fairgrounds. You must vote at the polling place designated for your precinct.

Make a note of your Montana House and Senate district numbers so you can research the correct candidates. 

Yellowstone Public Radio has recorded interviews with the candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives on their website. The links are located in the middle of the home page.

Forward Montana Voter Hub has information about identification needed to register to vote. Forward Montana and Indivisible Bozeman hosted a Congressional District 1 Primary Candidate Forum and the video is available here (skip to 11 minutes). 

Gallatin County Elections Department has links for all sorts of election related information. You can sign-up to be an Election Judge too! Gallatin County still needs judges for the primary and general elections.

Vote in Montana has well-organized voting information with how-tos, county election offices, and precinct locations.

Today, Community Rapid Response–Gallatin County, together with Indivisible Bozeman, is launching a new effort, and we hope you will join.

In Gallatin County, the primary way that ICE is detaining people is through the practice of placing a 48-hour “hold” on them at the county jail. In 2025, 84 people were transferred to ICE custody in this way, many with only minor charges and misdemeanors. The practice is ongoing. Detained people are quickly taken to Great Falls and moved out of state to detention facilities in Tacoma, Salt Lake City, and elsewhere. It is difficult for families to find loved ones and for attorneys to provide clients with representation.

(We learn every day about how unsafe these facilities are. According to data collected by the American Prospect, 52 people have died in ICE custody since the beginning of 2025.)

What is the supposed legal basis for this practice? In 2020, then County Sheriff Brian Gootkin signed what’s known as a 287g agreement with ICE.

Now we and our current county government have inherited this 287g agreement. None of us had the chance to weigh in on it or to make our voices heard. The agreement may well be invalid–no county commissioners signed it. We don’t know what it means for liability for our county, or for costs to taxpayers.

You can help change that. Tell the county commissioners you don’t want the 287g agreement. Send them an email today: commission@gallatin.mt.gov

Click here for helpful templates for your email, as well as for more resources and information.

This is an opportunity for us in Gallatin County to stand up for due process and the rule of law. We can insist on a community where everyone’s rights are respected, where we welcome the stranger and extend care to our neighbors, not punishment.

Spread the word! If you have friends or family in Gallatin County who might also want to email the commissioners, please share this information with them.