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Actual Vote in Montana

Poll tapes posted inside, or at closing time only

Information current as of June 2026

This page explains how to use the Actual Vote app in Montana for the next election. New to Actual Vote? Start here to learn what it is and why it matters.

Montana doesn’t post a poll tape on the polling-place door — but it has one of the strongest "watch the count" rights in the country. By law, the vote count must be open to public observation, and election judges must display a return form at the place where the ballots are counted. For most Montanans that place is a central counting center, not the precinct — so the Montana play is to go observe the count and record the displayed results.

Your participation is powerful: you join a nationwide team whose recordings get compared, tape-by-tape, against the officially reported results — an independent check on vote reporting, which is vulnerable to error and fraud. We haven’t published an Actual Vote analysis from Montana yet, but see what a team achieved in the 2024 North Carolina primary. The process is legal and next-to-impossible to abuse for partisan gain.

Get the app How Actual Vote works See an example analysis

This information was compiled using AI-assisted internet research along with some calls to election offices and word-of-mouth tips. It reflects America Counts’s best knowledge of how to access poll tapes in Montana as of June 2026, but it cannot be guaranteed 100% accurate. The best way to be sure about accessing poll tapes in your area is to call your local elections office and ask — see below for ready-to-use scripts.

If your experience or knowledge of poll-tape procedure in Montana is different from what we show here, please contact us and let us know — we update these pages as we learn more.

Your ways to participate in Montana

In order of power — how early in the chain of custody the evidence is, how many tapes one person can capture, and how easy it is.

  1. 1

    Observe and record the public countThe Montana play

    Montana law requires that any official vote count be open to public observation, and that a return form be displayed at the place of counting. Find where your county counts (often a central counting center after 8 p.m.), go observe, and record the displayed results with the Actual Vote app. Recording rules can vary by county, so ask the administrator.

    Phone script — arrange to observe and record the count
    Hi, my name is [name]. I’m a user of Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — volunteers record poll-tape and results data and compare it to the official results as an independent double-check. My understanding is that under Montana law (MCA § 13-15-101) the official vote count must be open to public observation, and a return form is displayed at the place of counting. For the [date] election, where will the count for [county] take place, and may I observe and video-record the displayed results? Is there anything I should know about recording?

    Poll watchers must be permitted to observe all of the counting procedures and entries of results (MCA § 13-13-120). Recording specifically can be a county-policy question — a friendly call ahead avoids surprises. If something differs from this page, tell us and we’ll fix it.

    See a detailed example of how to make a plan to visit polling places on election night based in Broward County, Florida.

  2. 2

    Become a poll worker or observer

    Working the polls or serving as an appointed observer puts you right at the source — the earliest point in the chain of custody, and the clearest view of the count. Recording rules can vary by county, so ask the administrator.

    See more details about Actual Vote for poll workers or observers.

    Sign up to be a poll worker →

  3. 3

    Visit or book an appointment at your county election office

    Election offices can often provide many precincts’ return forms at once — a good way to cover a whole county on your own schedule.

    Email/phone script — book an appointment at your Montana county elections office
    To: [your county] County elections office
    Re: Appointment to view and record precinct results tapes

    Hello, and thank you for your work. My name is [name]. My friends and I use Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization — we video-record poll tapes and compare them to the official results as an independent double-check.

    We’d like to request an appointment to view and video-record the certified precinct results tapes (summary statements) from the [date] election — Election Day, absentee/by-mail, and early voting — for [all precincts / the following precincts: ____]. [Preferred date and window] would work, but we’re flexible and happy to follow any rules your office sets.

    Everything on these tapes is public records under the Montana Public Records Law (Right to Know) (Mont. Code Ann. § 2-6-1003), and already public, so all we’d need is the tapes and a place to work. Thank you for considering it. — [name], [contact]

    Offices are busiest right before certification — offering a flexible window (and to start with a few precincts) makes a yes easier. See the full worked example for more.

    See a detailed example of how to do this.

  4. 4

    File a public-records request for the results records

    The precinct return forms are public records you can request by precinct — convenient, though later in the chain of custody than recording the count as it happens.

    Public-records request — Montana precinct return forms
    Hello, and thank you for your work. I’m requesting copies of the precinct return forms / results records from the [date] election for [precincts], electronically if possible, under the Montana Public Records Law (Mont. Code Ann. § 2-6-1003). I’m requesting them for Actual Vote, an app from America Counts, a non-partisan election transparency organization that compares results to the official totals as an independent double-check (see an example analysis). Please let me know the format, any fee, and the timeline. Thank you. — [name], [contact]

    See a detailed example of how to do this.

Not available in Montana

  • Record a posted poll tape at the polling place

    Not available in Montana — nothing is posted on the polling-place door. The return form is displayed at the counting center, and the printed Voting Results Report is sealed to the election administrator. Your route is observing the count (above), not a posted door tape.

    See how it works elsewhere →

  • Observe a vote-by-mail central count

    Doesn’t apply the same way — Montana has in-person polling; the relevant observation is of the official count at the counting center.

    See how it works elsewhere →

Quick reference: tape access by role in Montana

A companion to the options above. Whatever your role when the polls close — poll worker, appointed watcher, or member of the public — here’s who can see and record the results tape in Montana, and how the state compares nationally.

Public at the close

Public count, with a return form at the counting place (big counties count centrally).

Recording: Recording varies — ask the county.
Key authority: Mont. Code §13-15-101

See how every state compares →

Example Actual Vote Recordings

We don’t have any recordings from Montana yet — you could be the first! Here are some example poll tape videos by Actual Vote users in other states. America Counts compares the vote totals on each poll tape video to the official results to double-check the accuracy of the vote reporting. See this report from North Carolina in 2022 for an example.

Recordings live in the public Actual Vote Video Archive.

How we know this — and how you can check it

We read Montana’s election statutes directly. MCA § 13-15-101 requires that "any official vote count must be open to public observation, including but not limited to resolution and counting areas," that initial results be provided to the public no earlier than 8 p.m. and updated at least every 3 hours, that results be "immediately publicly declared" once tabulation is complete, and that judges "immediately display one of the return forms at the place of counting." Poll watchers must be "permitted to observe all of the vote counting procedures… and all entries of the results" (MCA § 13-13-120).

The key nuance is geography: the return-form display is at the place of counting, which for most Montanans is a central tabulating center, not the precinct. Most large counties (Yellowstone, Missoula, Gallatin, Flathead, Cascade, Lewis & Clark) transport ballots to a central center after 8 p.m.; smaller counties tabulate at the precinct but seal the printed Voting Results Report to the administrator. So nothing is posted on a precinct door, but the count is publicly observable and a return form is displayed at the counting site. Recording permission is a county-policy question — Yellowstone County, for example, has restricted watcher recording.

Why we’re confident: verified against the current Montana Code and the Secretary of State’s Election Administration materials (June 2026). The surest way to confirm your county’s counting location and recording policy is a quick call. Found something different? Help us verify it.

Find your county's election website

County sites carry the counting-center location, hours, and contacts. Search "[your county], Montana elections" if a link 404s.

Ready to help?

Join the nationwide team independently double-checking how votes are reported — starting in Montana.

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