7 November 2020

Flathead Memo’s data download center

Montana registered voter and voting eligible population turnout 1920–2020 (xlsx). I believe this is the most comprehensive collection of voting and turnout data for Montana. It includes:

• General, primary, and special, statewide elections.
• MT SecST registration and votes cast data.
• Montana population at two-year intervals.
• Voting age population.
• Voting eligible population 1972–present.
• Absentee ballots sent and returned.
• Registered voter turnout.
• Voting eligible population turnout (the better statistic).

The VEP is the voting age population — age ≥ 18 — minus foreign nationals and disqualified classes such as incarcerated felons; it varies according to state law. It’s the best statistic for two reasons:

• Voter registration rolls contain varying amounts of deadwood, that is people who no longer are voters, usually because they moved without notifying their elections department.


• A high RV turnout in a jurisdiction with a low number of RVers relative to the VEP can present a false picture of robust civic health. Suppose a jurisdiction has a VEP of 100,000, but only 10,000 RV. Suppose further that 9,000 ballots are cast in an election. The RV turnout would be 90 percent, but the VEP turnout would be only 9 percent.

See also my page on the voting eligible population statistic.

Population of Montana’s counties 1970–2020 (xlsx). For 1970–2019, the U.S. Census Bureau’s intercensal estimates. For 2020, an estimate that assumes the 2019 to 2020 growth of each county was identical to the 2018 to 2019 growth.