Missoula Council OKs mail-ballot 2025 municipal elections, sets primaries for races with three-or-more candidates

The Missoula City Council voted Tuesday to conduct its 2025 municipal primary and general elections by mail ballot and to hold nonpartisan primary elections for any city races with three or more candidates, including the office of mayor and three ward contests.

The council approved a resolution calling for the 2025 primary and general elections to be conducted by mail ballot by a 7-2 roll-call vote. Council members Anderson, Berlino (Carlino), Jones, Jordan, Nelson, Savage and Cheryl voted yes; two members voted no. The resolution passed.

The council also approved a separate resolution to hold primaries for any race with three or more candidates — the city clerk reported those contests would include the office of mayor and seats in Wards 2, 3 and a partial term in Ward 6 — to be held on Sept. 9, 2025. That motion passed 8-0 with one abstention; Councilor Basica abstained from the second vote, saying she would be directly affected by the outcome and wished to avoid any appearance of bias.

Supporters of the mail-ballot resolution said mail voting has produced higher turnout and lower cost in past Missoula municipal elections. Councilor Cheryl said the city has used mail ballots during her time on council and that the method is both cheaper and supports a majority-elected outcome when paired with primaries.

Councilor Anderson described the county’s elections office as transparent and said there was no evidence that in-person voting is measurably more secure than mail ballots; she said mail ballots can raise turnout because voters have more time to research races.

Basica said she would abstain on the primaries question and indicated a preference for in-person voting as the most secure method, while acknowledging the council’s interest in cost savings.

The council’s roll-call votes were conducted after committee discussion and no members of the public offered in-person or online testimony on the item during the meeting.

Votes at a glance - Resolution to conduct the 2025 primary and general municipal elections by mail ballot: Passed, 7 yes, 2 no. - Resolution to hold nonpartisan primaries for races with three or more candidates (mayor, Ward 2, Ward 3, Ward 6 partial term): Passed, 8 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention (Councilor Basica).

Why it matters Mail-ballot municipal elections affect how Missoulians cast ballots for city offices and can change participation rates. The primaries requirement aims to ensure candidates who win a general election have a majority of votes when contests begin with multiple candidates.

What’s next The county elections office will administer the mail ballots and report candidate counts that determine whether primaries are required. The council did not change specific dates besides the council-backed primary date of Sept. 9, 2025 for contests that qualify.