Montana voter registration closes Oct 5 for the November 3, 2026 election. Every deadline — registration, mail ballot and early voting — with the official source for each.
Look up your own ballot and polling place →
No-excuse absentee voting in person at the county election office is available from Monday, Oct 5 (30 days before). Apply for and vote an in-person absentee ballot by noon Monday, Nov 2. Montana's 'early voting' is in-person absentee voting at your county election office during its business hours. No excuse is needed.
Regular registration: mailed forms must be postmarked by Monday, Oct 5 and received by Thursday, Oct 8. After that, you can still register in person during late registration.
County election offices mail absentee ballots to everyone on the absentee list on Friday, Oct 9. Separately, you can vote absentee in person at the county election office starting Monday, Oct 5.
Apply for and vote an in-person absentee ballot by noon Monday, Nov 2. Montana's 'early voting' is in-person absentee voting at your county election office during its business hours. No excuse is needed.
Absentee applications must reach the county election office by noon Monday, Nov 2. That late, you'll need to pick the ballot up in person; mailed ballots go out starting Oct 9.
Absentee ballots must be received at the county election office or a polling place by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Postmarks do not count.
Late registration runs from Oct 6 through Election Day at the location your county election administrator designates; late registrants must get their ballot in person there. Election Day closing time depends on an ongoing court case; confirm hours with your county election office. Election Day registration is available at the county election office (or county-designated location), not at your regular polling place; you must vote your ballot there. Hours on Election Day depend on ongoing SB 490 litigation.
Candidate filing for Montana municipal offices opens on Tuesday, June 1, 2027. Candidate filing closes at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 16, 2027.
Candidate filing closes at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 16, 2027.
Regular voter registration for the November 2, 2027 municipal general election closes on Monday, October 4, 2027. After that you can still register late in person at your county election office, right through 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.
Montana state law puts municipal elections in odd-numbered years on the same day as the general election - the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. In 2027 the first Monday in November is Monday, November 1, so Montana's municipal general election is Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Where a municipal primary is required, it falls earlier, on Tuesday, September 14, 2027.
We publish a gap rather than a guess. These points were not settled by an official source:
Every date above was read from the Montana election office's own published material, last checked Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Confirm anything you are relying on with your local election authority.
Monday, October 5* Close of regular voter registration. (Registration forms postmarked by this date and received within 3 days are accepted for regular registration.)
https://sosmt.gov/elections/faq/
Late registration is the 30-day period before an election. Eligible voters may register to vote or update their registration during the late registration period. In order to vote in the election, a voter must obtain their ballot in person.
https://votemt.gov/voter-registration/
A court order has prohibited Montana election officials from implementing Senate Bill 490, which provided statewide voter registration and voting in all 56 counties across the state on the Saturday before the Federal Election.
https://sosmt.gov/elections/absentee/
Applications must be received by the county election office by noon the day before the election.
The election administrator shall: (a) close regular registrations for 30 days before any election
Consistent with the candidate filing deadline in 13-10-201(7) for primary elections and except as provided in subsection (2) for a write-in candidate, the candidate filing deadline for election to a local government office is no sooner than 105 days and no later than 90 days before the election.
Except as provided in 13-10-211, a candidate's declaration for nomination must be filed no sooner than 105 days before the election and no later than 5 p.m., 90 days before the date of the primary election.