Montana followed a national trend this primary election, with more voters choosing “no preference” in the presidential primary.
About 16,000 voters selected “no preference” for former President Donald Trump and about 9,000 selected “no preference” for President Joe Biden, according to unofficial results from the Montana Secretary of State, representing about 9% of the total votes cast in both primaries.
That's an increase for both parties from the 2020 and 2016 elections. Hundreds of thousands of voters in other states also cast ballots against the top candidates in this year's primaries.
Montana State University political scientist Eric Reil said poll after poll shows voters across the U.S. are not happy with their choice for president this year, and saying “no preference” is a low-risk way to signal that.
“It's unclear how that will translate into the general election, because in the general election it will matter even more.”
Reil said “unconditional voting” is much more common in primaries than general elections, but Democrats are more likely to abstain from voting in November's election than Republicans.
“In the past, Republicans have kind of obediently voted Republican and not cast protest votes in the general election. I think it's definitely possible that Democrats could do that.”
The group Montanans for Palestine actively encouraged voters to choose “no choice” for Biden in the primary and write in “ceasefire” instead to vote for Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. The group aims to show elected leaders its anger over U.S. support for Israel's military operation in Gaza.
Biden lost 9% of Democrats among those who voted “no preference,” while Tester lost about 3% to his primary opponent, although the write-in votes are not counted in the Secretary of State's tally.
Reil said it's unclear where those votes will fall in November.
