Montana Ranks High in the Number of Registered Voters in the U.S.

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - With the 2024 general election on the horizon, KGVO News did some digging to find out just how many registered voters there are in each state, and where Montana ranks.

It turns out that Montana is in the top 10, in fact Big Sky Country ranks 8^th in the percentage of those who are registered to vote.

Montana Ranks 8th in the Country for Voter Registration

For example, according to the website World Population Review.com, about 66.8 percent of U.S. citizens voted in the 2020 presidential election, which was the highest voter turnout of the 21^st century, and according to the website ‘158.4 million people voted in that election. 139 million voted in the 2016 election, in which almost 92 million eligible voters did not vote’.

Looking at the numbers, 77.5 percent of Montanans are currently registered to vote, totaling more than 741,000, putting Montana in 8^th place out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Secretary of State said there are 87,925 Registered Voters in Missoula County

According to Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s office, there are 87,925 registered voters in Missoula County, of which 73,626 are active, 14,201 are inactive and 88 are still listed as provisional voters. Only Yellowstone County (Billings) surpasses Missoula County with 102,440 registered voters, of which 79,652 are active.

Topping the list of which states have the highest percentage of registered voters, the District of Columbia tops the list with 86.9 percent of those who are of voting age registered to vote, followed by New Jersey at 84.6 percent, Minnesota with 84.6 percent, Mississippi with 80.4 percent, Oregon with 79.9 percent, Maryland with 78.6 percent and New Hampshire with 78.3 percent.

Despite the Registrations Missoula Showed Poorly in Municipal Primary

Yes, Montana ranks high in the percentage of the population who are registered voters, however, as KGVO News recently reported, a dismal 18 percent of Missoula’s registered voters bothered to cast a ballot in the recent municipal primary. The general election fared better according to Missoula County Election Administrator Bradley Seaman. “We've been running our voter turnout compared to our ballot return rates,” said Seaman. “We've got about half of the ballots that we mailed out back in and our turnout was right at about 43 percent. So far as we accept more ballots, those numbers will continue to go up. So it tracks with our past history. It's higher than the national average, but it's lower than 50 percent.”

READ MORE: Missoula voters consider government study; city sets $200K budget

In that election, political newcomer Andrea Davis defeated city councilor Mike Nugent to fill the unexpired term of the late Mayor John Engen.

For new residents who wish to register to vote, click this link to the Montana Secretary of State’s Office.

The 2024 primary will be Tuesday, June 4 with the general election on Tuesday, November 5.