HELENA
Early voting that starts next month is changing campaign strategies in Montana, forcing candidates to spend money sooner and run longer campaigns. Officials expect nearly 200,000 voters to take advantage of voting that starts Oct. 6 with absentee ballots that anyone can request. Absentee ballots accounted for 29 percent of the votes cast in the 2006 general election and 34 percent of the votes in the June 3 primary election this year. "I don't think anyone here would be surprised if it hits 40 percent this fall," says Bowen Greenwood, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, which oversees elections. Political campaigns are adjusting. "You can't wait to define yourself or your opponent until late September or October, like it used to be," says Erik Iverson, chairman of the Montana Republican Party. "You've got to start early, and it doesn't mean you get to quit early. You've got to push on through." Ballots are sent by mail Oct. 6 to those on the permanent absentee voter list about 94,000 people as of last week. They have until Nov. 4, Election Day, to return the ballots to county election offices. But absentee voting is open to anyone who requests one within 75 days of the election. Montana also has voter registration up to and including Election Day, and these "late" registrants essentially receive absentee ballots. Caleb Weaver, a Montana spokesman for the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, says early voting means the campaign can spread its "get-outthe- vote" effort over 30 days. "We wi l l c e r tainly be encouraging our supporters to vote before Election Day," he said. "Each person who votes early is one less door we need to knock on, one less phone call we need to make, in the days leading up to the election. It enables us to narrow the group of people we're focusing on to get out to vote." The system favors campaigns with money and organization advantages. "The strategy now has to be, spend more earlier or you're not going to have the impact," said Craig Wilson, a political science professor at Montana State University- Billings. "Well-organized groups and parties, they have an advantage." (AP)
