MT: High Interest and Lots of Early Voting

By Marc Kaufman
Bowen Greenwood, spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Johnson, predicted that Montana voter turnout would top 70 percent.

"This is going to be a great election," he said, "the interest level is really high." The total number of registered voters, however, is 30,000 fewer than in the 2000 general election.

Polls have shown Sens. Obama and McCain roughly tied in a state that traditionally votes Republican in presidential elections.

More than one of four Montana voters has registered to vote early, and by Sunday night, 175,054 early votes had been already cast, out of a total of 202,563 Montanans who requested them, Greenwood said.