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Free Shuttle Helps Bring Voters to Polling Center at Montana ExpoPark

By Charlie Keegan

Story Created: Nov 2, 2010 at 5:41 PM MDT

Story Updated: Nov 2, 2010 at 5:41 PM MDT

For area residents who don't drive getting to the Great Falls central polling location can be difficult. That's why some local voters took advantage of a free shuttle service today.

The free bus service went from the downtown transfer station to the Exhibition Hall and back. Before noon, the driver said he had about 15 different people take advantage of the service, including some regular riders and some just hoping to get their vote counted.

“I would probably have walked or done an absentee [ballot], but I chose to do the voting at the fairgrounds through the bus,” Terry Otis says.

He isn't the only one taking the bus. As luck would have it, right when John Cunningham started walking away the shuttle pulled up. “I actually walked here, but am taking advantage of the shuttle back, I'm very grateful to see that there is a shuttle,” he says.

Officials say the busiest time of the bus service is first thing in the morning, around lunch and around 5 pm. Whether it's busy or not, Cunningham says having the service encourages more people to get out and vote.

“There needs to be a renewed interest in voting. There are a lot of young people, younger than myself, a little older than myself, who feel like their votes don't count. Having something like this to assist not only the elderly, who can't drive, but also the young people, like myself, so they realize ‘Hey, there might be something to this’," Cunningham says.

Ever since the Elections Department moved all the poll centers in the city to Great Falls to the Exhibition Hall in 2007, it's offered the shuttle service. “For the east end of the community and the lower north and south side it’s a bit further. So, we went along with offering the shuttle service so we could get people over here to the polls so we wouldn't impede any voters,” Election Administrator Rina Fontana Moore says.

The Elections Department pays back Great Falls Transit for the number of riders. “Last time, we bought $500 worth of tickets and didn't come close to spending that, so we're riding on what we purchased for the June election,” Fontana Moore says.

Besides the bus service, handicapped voters can vote without ever leaving their car thanks to curbside service. “We actually have a team that will come out and issue the ballot to them right in their car if they have an inability to come in,” Fontana Moore explains.

The Election Department also offered a voting service for citizens in hospitals and hospice care who did not have a chance to fill out an absentee ballot.

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