Secretary of State Brad Johnson, who on Tuesday morning completed a 56-county tour of election offices, said that election administrators want more Help America Vote Act funding and additional training.

They also expressed concern over the difficulty of recruiting election judges, he said.

His tour started with Butte-Silver Bow Clerk and Recorder Mary McMahon last year and ended Tuesday morning with a visit with Lewis and Clark County Clerk and Recorder Paulette DeHart.

Johnson said in 2007 he would visit every county election bureau before the primary election after local election officials asked for more communication with the secretary of state's office.

By law, the secretary of state is Montana's chief election official.

Local elected officials told him they want to more federal HAVA money. Johnson said he has asked the state's congressional delegation to request more HAVA funding.

His Web site said Montana has received $16 million in HAVA money over the past three years.

It has gone to buy voting equipment for people with disabilities, replace punch-card voting systems in six counties, create a computerized database of all voters that local officials can update on a regular basis and educate voters, poll workers and election officials about it.

Johnson said his office has set up regional training sessions for election officials, including a session on election judge recruitment and training.

After election officials expressed concern about late registration of voters, his office ran public service announcements encouraging Montanans to register early, he said.

On other topics, Johnson said primary voter registration is up because of a number of factors, not the least of which is the hotly contested Democratic presidential race.

"Montanans have always taken a lot of interest in the electoral process," he said.

He predicted that at least 45 percent of Montana voters would cast absentee ballots for the June 3 primary.

That would be up from the 40 percent who cast absentee ballots in the 2006 general election, he said.