Voters Must Sign and Place Birth Years on Ballots for Them to Count this Election Cycle

As municipal elections continue around the state, Montana voters are subject to a new law requiring they sign and provide their birth date on their ballot’s signature envelope for it to be counted.

The new law, which passed in the 2025 legislative session, has caused hundreds of ballots to be rejected across the state, including more than 400 ballots each in both Yellowstone and Missoula counties, per reporting from the Montana Free Press.

As of the end-of-day on Monday, Oct. 27, Flathead County election officials have rejected 220 ballots, according to election manager Paula Buff.

Of those, 166 were rejected because they either did not have a year, or because the voter wrote an incorrect year on the signature envelope. The other 54 ballots that have been rejected were either because vo