Title 13, Title 13

(1) Unless the petition states otherwise, a statutory initiative or constitutional convention initiative approved by the people is effective on October 1 following approval. If a statutory initiative delegates rulemaking authority, it is effective no sooner than October 1 followi…

As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply: (1) "Ballot statements" means a statement of purpose and implication and a yes and no statement. (2) "Constitutional convention initiative" means a statewide initiative to su…

(1) (a) A person who employs a paid signature gatherer shall register with the secretary of state prior to collecting signatures. Except as provided in subsection (1)(b), the registration in this subsection (1) must be accompanied by a filing fee of not more than $100 or an amoun…

A paid signature gatherer, as defined in 13-27-112, shall verbally disclose their first name, the state in which they legally reside, and their status as a paid signature gatherer to anyone they approach about signing a petition. The paid signature gatherer shall also wear a badg…

(1) A statement of purpose and implication expresses the true and impartial explanation of the proposal in plain, easily understood language. The statement of purpose and implication may not be argumentative or written so as to create prejudice for or against the issue. (2) A sta…

(1) A yes and no statement specifies that a positive vote indicates support for the issue and a negative vote indicates opposition to the issue. (2) The yes and no statement must be placed beside the diagram provided for marking of the ballot in a manner similar to the following:…

(1) A proponent of a statutory initiative shall submit the text of the proposed initiative to the secretary of state in accordance with 13-27-216. (2) A proponent of a statutory referendum shall submit the text of the proposed referendum to the secretary of state in accordance wi…

(1) A proponent of a statutory initiative, a statutory referendum, a constitutional initiative, or a constitutional convention initiative shall include a nonrefundable filing fee of $3,700 per submitted proposal at the time of submittal to the secretary of state. (2) The fee must…

(1) (a) A proponent of a statutory initiative shall submit the text of the proposed statutory initiative to the secretary of state together with draft ballot statements and the filing fee required by 13-27-215. The secretary of state shall, without undue delay, forward a copy of …

(1) (a) A proponent of a statutory referendum shall submit the text of the proposed statutory referendum to the secretary of state together with draft ballot statements and the filing fee required by 13-27-215. The secretary of state shall forward a copy of the text of the propos…

(1) A proponent of a constitutional initiative shall submit the text of the proposed constitutional initiative to the secretary of state together with draft ballot statements and the filing fee required by 13-27-215. The secretary of state shall, without undue delay, forward a co…

(1) A proponent of a constitutional convention initiative shall submit the text of the proposed constitutional convention initiative to the secretary of state together with draft ballot statements and the filing fee required by 13-27-215. The secretary of state shall, without und…

(1) A statewide referendum referred to a vote of the people by the legislature must comply with the requirements of 5-4-102. (2) The secretary of state shall transmit a statewide referendum proposed by the legislature to the attorney general according to the requirements of 13-27…

A statewide initiative filed under the provisions of this chapter may not be filed if it is substantially the same as a measure defeated by the voters in an election within the preceding 4 years.

(1) On receipt of a proposed statutory initiative, statutory referendum, constitutional initiative, or constitutional convention initiative and the proposal's ballot statements from the office of the secretary of state as provided in 13-27-216(1), 13-27-217(1), 13-27-218(1), or 1…

(1) On receipt of a proposed statutory initiative, statutory referendum, constitutional initiative, or constitutional convention initiative and the proposal's ballot statements from the office of the secretary of state and the fiscal note determination from the budget director as…

(1) If the proposal affects the revenue, expenditures, or fiscal liability of the state, the budget director shall determine whether a fiscal note is necessary. If a fiscal note is required, the budget director, in cooperation with the agency or agencies affected by the statewide…

(1) If the attorney general finds that a proposed statewide initiative is legally sufficient as provided in this part, the secretary of state shall provide the executive director of the legislative services division with a copy of the final text of the proposed statewide initiati…

(1) When the requirements of 13-27-216, 13-27-217, 13-27-218, or 13-27-219 are complete and the proposed statewide ballot issue has been found legally sufficient pursuant to 13-27-226, the secretary of state shall immediately send to the person submitting the proposed statewide b…

(1) A petition must be substantially in the form provided by this chapter. Clerical or technical errors that do not interfere with the ability to judge the sufficiency of signatures on the petition do not render a petition void. (2) Petition sheets may not exceed 8 1/2 x 14 inche…

The secretary of state shall serially number all submitted petitions that are approved as to form continuously from year to year. The numbering system shall distinguish the different types of petitions received and include provisions for numbering measures referred to the people …

(1) The following, including the language provided for in subsection (2)(b), is substantially the form for a petition calling for a vote to enact a statutory initiative: PETITION TO PLACE INITIATIVE NO.____ ON THE ELECTION BALLOT (a) If 5% of the voters in each of one-third of th…

(1) In accordance with Article III, section 4, of the Montana constitution, the text of a statutory initiative may not provide for the appropriation of revenue. (2) For the purposes of this section, "appropriation" means the authority for a governmental entity to expend money fro…

(1) The following is substantially the form for a petition calling for approval or rejection of an act of the legislature by statutory referendum: PETITION TO PLACE REFERENDUM NO.____ON THE ELECTION BALLOT (a) If 5% of the voters in each of 34 legislative representative districts…

(1) The following is substantially the form for a petition for a constitutional initiative: PETITION TO PLACE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NO.____ ON THE ELECTION BALLOT (a) If 10% of the voters in each of two-fifths of the legislative representative districts (totaling 40 legislativ…

(1) The following is substantially the form for a petition for a constitutional convention initiative: PETITION TO PLACE INITIATIVE NO.____, CALLING FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, ON THE ELECTION BALLOT (a) If 10% of the voters in each of 40 legislative districts sign this peti…

Petitions may not be circulated for the purpose of signature gathering more than 1 year prior to the final date for filing the signed petition with the county election administrator.

The secretary of state shall transmit to the attorney general a copy of a statewide referendum referred to a vote of the people by the legislature no later than 6 months before the election at which the issue will be voted on by the people.

(1) Unless otherwise submitted earlier, the secretary of state shall cause the question of holding an unlimited constitutional convention to be submitted to the people at the general election in 1990. The same question must be submitted at the general election in each 20th year f…

(1) Signed sheets or sections of petitions with original signatures must be submitted to the official responsible for registration of electors in the county in which the signatures were obtained no sooner than 9 months and no later than 4 weeks before the final date for filing th…

(1) An affidavit, in substantially the following form, must be attached to each sheet or section submitted to the county official: I, (name of person who is the signature gatherer), swear that I gathered the signatures on the petition to which this affidavit is attached on the st…

(1) Except as required by 13-27-104, within 4 weeks after receiving the sheets or sections of a petition, the county official shall check the names of all signers to verify they are registered electors of the county. In addition, the official shall randomly select signatures on e…

The county official verifying the number of registered electors signing the petition shall forward it to the secretary of state by certified mail with a certificate in substantially the following form attached: To the Honorable ____________, Secretary of State of the state of Mon…

The county official certifying the sheets or sections of a petition shall keep a copy of the sheets or sections certified in the official files of the official's office. The copies may be destroyed 3 months after the date of the election specified in the petition unless a court a…

A registered elector of a county having reason to believe that signatures on a petition that were not among those actually compared with signatures in the registration records of the county are not genuine may file a sworn statement or affirmation of the elector's belief and a re…

(1) The secretary of state shall consider and tabulate only the signatures on petitions that are certified by the proper county official. The secretary of state may reject any petition that does not meet statutory requirements. The secretary of state shall return a rejected petit…

When a petition containing a sufficient number of verified signatures has been filed with the secretary of state within the time required by the constitution or by law, the secretary of state shall immediately certify to the governor that the completed petition qualifies for the …

(1) If a constitutional initiative is submitted to the people, the secretary of state shall have the proposed constitutional initiative published in full twice each month for 2 months prior to the election at which it is to be voted upon by the people in not less than one newspap…

(1) The secretary of state shall prepare for printing a voter information pamphlet containing information relevant to the election, including but not limited to the following information for each statewide ballot issue to be voted on at an election, as applicable: (a) ballot titl…

(1) The arguments advocating approval or rejection of the statewide ballot issue and rebuttal arguments must be submitted to the secretary of state by committees appointed as provided in this section. (2) (a) The committee advocating approval of a legislative act referred to the …

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), appointments to committees advocating approval or rejection of a statewide ballot issue must be made no later than 1 week prior to the deadline for filing arguments on the ballot issue under 13-27-406. (2) Appointments to committees advoc…

The appointee of the president of the senate is the presiding officer of any committee to which that officer makes an appointment. The appointing authority for other committees shall name a presiding officer at the time the appointments are made.

Each committee is entitled to receive funds for the preparation of arguments and expenses of members not to exceed $100 for a three-member committee and $200 for a five-member committee. Itemized claims for actual expenses incurred, approved by a majority of the committee, must b…

An argument advocating approval or rejection of a statewide ballot issue is limited to a single side of a single 7 1/2-inch by 10-inch page and must be filed, in a black-and-white, camera-ready format, with the secretary of state no later than 105 days before the election at whic…

The secretary of state shall provide copies of the arguments advocating approval or rejection of a statewide ballot issue to the members of the adversary committee no later than 1 day following the filing of both the approval and rejection arguments for the issue. The committees …

The secretary of state shall reject, with the approval of the attorney general, an argument or other matter held to contain obscene, vulgar, profane, scandalous, libelous, or defamatory matter; any language that in any way incites, counsels, promotes, or advocates hatred, abuse, …