Bozeman voters share top concerns as Gallatin ballots come in
BOZEMAN, Mont. — With Election Day getting closer, voters are heading to the polls with a range of issues on their minds.
One voter said their love for the community helped get them to the ballot box.
"The community. I really like Bozeman, I like Montana. It's very welcoming and an awesome place to live, and I want to keep it that way," said Boone Steinberg. For Steinberg, one of his top concerns as he filled out his ballot was public lands.
For Lisa Hart, voting is a civic duty.
"Number one, I'm an American and it is my right. And the other main thing is I feel it's really important as citizens to vote. If you don't do it, you can't complain about it. You can't change anything. You can't make a difference," Hart said.
Voters in Gallatin County said they were focused on issues that affect daily life, public land and the future.
"The cost of living. I think everything we're hearing on the streets, it's - we're not immune to it," said Aaron Hoffman.
"Everything's expensive. The environment is really important, and we're not really talking about that, unfortunately," Miguel Strunk said.
Nicole Cowett said one of her concerns is how campaigns are funded.
"Trying to find people that don't take corporate money and don't take bribes is really important," she said.
Mckenna Manley brought her baby to the ballot drop-off.
"Healthcare or lower costs, you know, civil liberties and rights and all those things, and just making sure that this guy grows up in a world that's a good one," Manley said.
According to the state's absentee ballot map, around 530,000 ballots have been sent out and around 300,000 have been received.
In Gallatin County, West Third Avenue outside the Gallatin County Courthouse is closed so there will be more room if the line of voters stretched beyond the building.
Some voters also said parts of the ballot caught them off guard and pushed them to look more closely at what was in front of them.
"There's the referendum to change the city charter. That was kind of surprising. I was surprised to see they wanted to change that," Hart said.
Some of the write-in options? I had to do a little bit more research on those," Strunk said.
Cowett encountered the same thing.
"There was a lot of sections where there was only one option, and there wasn't a lot of it. There wasn't a choice," she said.
Yeah, we did our best to research as much as we could," Marcus Bendon added.
People who still needed late voter registration or were having trouble with an absentee ballot were directed to their local county elections office.
BOZEMAN, Mont. — With Election Day getting closer, voters are heading to the polls with a range of issues on their minds.
One voter said their love for the community helped get them to the ballot box.
"The community. I really like Bozeman, I like Montana. It's very welcoming and an awesome place to live, and I want to keep it that way," said Boone Steinberg. For Steinberg, one of his top concerns as he filled out his ballot was public lands.
For Lisa Hart, voting is a civic duty.
"Number one, I'm an American and it is my right. And the other main thing is I feel it's really important as citizens to vote. If you don't do it, you can't complain about it. You can't change anything. You can't make a difference," Hart said.
Voters in Gallatin County said they were focused on issues that affect daily life, public land and the future.
"The cost of living. I think everything we're hearing on the streets, it's - we're not immune to it," said Aaron Hoffman.
"Everything's expensive. The environment is really important, and we're not really talking about that, unfortunately," Miguel Strunk said.
Nicole Cowett said one of her concerns is how campaigns are funded.
"Trying to find people that don't take corporate money and don't take bribes is really important," she said.
Mckenna Manley brought her baby to the ballot drop-off.
"Healthcare or lower costs, you know, civil liberties and rights and all those things, and just making sure that this guy grows up in a world that's a good one," Manley said.
According to the state's absentee ballot map, around 530,000 ballots have been sent out and around 300,000 have been received.
In Gallatin County, West Third Avenue outside the Gallatin County Courthouse is closed so there will be more room if the line of voters stretched beyond the building.
Some voters also said parts of the ballot caught them off guard and pushed them to look more closely at what was in front of them.
"There's the referendum to change the city charter. That was kind of surprising. I was surprised to see they wanted to change that," Hart said.
Some of the write-in options? I had to do a little bit more research on those," Strunk said.
Cowett encountered the same thing.
"There was a lot of sections where there was only one option, and there wasn't a lot of it. There wasn't a choice," she said.
Yeah, we did our best to research as much as we could," Marcus Bendon added.
People who still needed late voter registration or were having trouble with an absentee ballot were directed to their local county elections office.
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