Missoula County's election brought in ballots from nearly 33% of voters according to Missoula County elections officer Vickie Zeier.

When voters had to show up in person during a contested mayor race, they would get a little more than a 20 % response, Zeier said.

She expected that this year's election, without a contested mayor race, would have brought in about 10% to 15% at the polls, but having mail ballots encouraged more people to vote.

"It's a convenient way to vote for a lot of people who are busy," Zeier said. "They like that they receive it at home, that they can look at the ballot, make their decisions and send it back or drop it off - whichever they prefer."

Zeier said they rejected about 200 ballots because they either didn't have signatures or the signatures were mismatched.

- Breanna Roy reporting from KPAX in Missoula