Title 13, Title 13

(1) Not more than 12 days or less than 2 days before an election at which a voting system will be used by voters, the election administrator shall broadcast on radio or television, as provided in 2-3-105 through 2-3-107, or publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the cou…

A voting system must be on exhibition in the office of the election administrator of any county where the voting system is used and may be exhibited at other locations. The election administrator shall demonstrate the voting system to any inquiring elector.

(1) For each voting system approved under 13-17-101, the secretary of state shall adopt rules specifying the procedures to be uniformly applied in elections conducted with the voting system. (2) The rules must, at a minimum, specify procedures that address the following: (a) perf…

(1) No more than 30 days prior to an election in which a voting system is used, the election administrator shall publicly test and certify that the system is performing properly. An election administrator shall test all central count vote tabulation machines to be used if automat…

Subject to 13-12-202, whenever a voting system does not allow adequate space for all candidates for all offices or for all ballot issues, separate paper ballots may be used for some or all offices or ballot issues if written authorization is given to the election administrator by…

This part may be cited as the "Postelection Audit Act".

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Computer software expert" means a person who has obtained a bachelor of science degree in computer science with expertise in software engineering and who is not affiliated with an election software vendor. (2) "County au…

(1) After unofficial results are available to the public in a federal election, but before the official canvass by the county board of canvassers, the county audit committee shall conduct a random-sample audit. (2) The random-sample audit may not include a ballot that a vote-coun…

(1) Prior to each federal election, the county governing body shall appoint at least three individuals to serve on the county audit committee from a list of county employees and county residents who have offered to serve on the committee. (2) The county audit committee may not in…

(1) No sooner than 7 days after the federal election and no later than 9 days after the federal election, the state board of canvassers, pursuant to 13-17-503 and as established by rule, shall randomly select: (a) the races and ballot issue to be audited; (b) the precincts to be …

(1) The random-sample audit must be completed at least 1 day before the official canvass by the county board of canvassers. (2) The county audit committee shall manually count the votes for the random-sample audit as follows: (a) One member shall read the ballot while the remaini…

(1) If a discrepancy exists between the vote-counting machine totals and the manual count totals, the random-sample audit results must serve as the definitive record for purposes of the canvass. (2) If the random-sample audit results in a discrepancy of more than 0.5% of total ba…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the secretary of state shall reimburse each county for any costs incurred in implementing the provisions of this part. (2) A vendor who supplies a vote-counting machine that was purchased after October 1, 2009, and that fails an audit due…

(1) Upgrades, patches, fixes, or alterations may not be applied to any vote-counting machine during the 30 days following a federal election. (2) If a vote-counting machine fails an audit pursuant to 13-17-507, the vote-counting machine is subject to examination by a computer sof…

(1) After unofficial results are available to the public in a nonfederal election, but before the official canvass by the county board of canvassers, the board of county commissioners may request a random-sample audit of vote-counting machines. (2) The random-sample audit may not…

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the option of and procedures for conducting certain specified elections as mail ballot elections. The provisions of this chapter recognize that sound public policy concerning the conduct of elections often requires the balancing of variou…

As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply: (1) "Ballot" means the ballot or set of ballots that is to be returned by a specified election day. (2) "Election day" is the date established by law on which a particular election would be held if that election were being…

All laws applicable to elections when voting is not done by mail ballot and all penalties prescribed for violation of those laws apply to elections conducted by mail ballot to the extent they do not specifically conflict with the provisions of this chapter or are not otherwise pr…

(1) Conducting elections by mail ballot is only one option available to local officials, and this chapter does not mandate that the procedure be used. (2) Except as provided in subsection (3), any election may be conducted by mail ballot. (3) The following elections may not be co…

In addition to other powers and duties conveyed by law, the secretary of state, with advice from election administrators, shall: (1) prescribe the form of materials to be used in the conduct of mail ballot elections; and (2) adopt rules consistent with this chapter to: (a) establ…

A mail ballot election must be conducted substantially as follows: (1) Subject to 13-12-202, official mail ballots must be prepared and all other initial procedures followed as provided by law, except that mail ballots must be paper ballots and are not required to have stubs. (2)…

A proposal to conduct an election under this chapter may be initiated by either the election administrator or the appropriate governing body as provided in 13-19-202 through 13-19-204.

(1) A political subdivision may, by resolution of the governing body addressed to the election administrator, request that a particular election be conducted under the provisions of this chapter. (2) No later than 70 days before election day, the governing body shall transmit its…

(1) Even if a request has not been received from the governing body concerned, the election administrator may conduct any election authorized by 13-19-104 under this chapter if the election administrator determines that a mail ballot election is the most economically and administ…

(1) A political subdivision may, by resolution of the governing body, object to the conduct of one of its elections under this chapter. The resolution must include a statement of the reasons for the objection. (2) If the resolution is filed with the election administrator no late…

(1) The election administrator shall prepare a written plan for the conduct of each election to be conducted by mail. There must be a separate plan for each type of election held even if held on the same day. (2) The written plan must include: (a) a timetable for the election; (b…

For each election conducted under this chapter, the election administrator shall: (1) mail a single packet to every qualified elector of the political subdivision conducting the election; (2) ensure that each packet contains only one each of the following: (a) an official ballot …

(1) Except as provided in 13-13-205(2) and subsection (2) of this section, for any election conducted by mail, ballots must be mailed no sooner than the 20th day and no later than the 15th day before election day. (2) All ballots mailed to electors on the active list and the prov…

(1) Upon receipt of a mailed ballot, the elector may vote by: (a) marking the ballot in the manner specified; (b) placing the marked ballot in the secrecy envelope, free of any identifying marks; (c) placing the secrecy envelope containing one ballot for each election being held …

The election administrator shall provide a method for proportional voting in the administrator's written plan for an election conducted under this chapter that requires votes to be cast in proportion to ownership or any factor other than one vote per person.

(1) A qualified elector who will be absent from the county during the time the election is being conducted may: (a) vote in person in the election administrator's office as soon as ballots are available and until noon the day before the ballots are scheduled to be mailed; or (b) …

(1) For any election being conducted under this chapter by a political subdivision that allows individuals to vote who are not registered electors, the individual may vote by appearing in person at the election administrator's office or by providing materials by mail, facsimile, …

Replacement ballots may be issued as specified in 13-13-204.

(1) After complying with 13-19-301, an elector or the elector's agent or designee may return the elector's ballot on or before election day by either: (a) depositing the signature envelope in the United States mail, with sufficient postage affixed; or (b) returning it to any plac…

(1) (a) The election administrator shall designate the election administrator's office and may designate one or more places in the political subdivision in which the election is being conducted as places of deposit where ballots may be returned in person by the elector or the ele…

If a ballot is returned in person by the elector or the elector's agent or designee to a place of deposit other than the election administrator's office, the election officials on location shall: (1) keep a log of the names of all electors for whom the officials receive ballots; …

Ballots returned to the election administrator's office must be handled as provided for absentee ballots in 13-13-241.

(1) The preparation for counting ballots must be as provided in 13-15-201. (2) Except as provided in subsection (3), after the close of voting on election day, the counting board appointed pursuant to 13-15-112 shall: (a) open the official ballot boxes; (b) if the process authori…

Notice to the elector and the opportunity to resolve questions must be as provided in 13-13-245, except as follows: (1) If a mail ballot is returned as undeliverable, the election administrator shall attempt to contact the elector by the most expedient means available to determin…

Any questions concerning the validity of a ballot or signature must be resolved in the following manner: (1) If the election administrator is unable to determine without doubt whether a voted ballot is valid or invalid, the election administrator shall give notice to the elector …

This chapter may be cited as the "Montana Absent Uniformed Services and Overseas Voter Act".

As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply: (1) "Covered voter" means: (a) a uniformed-service voter or an overseas voter who is registered to vote in Montana; (b) a uniformed-service voter whose voting residence is in Montana and who otherwise satisfies Montana's v…

(1) The secretary of state shall adopt reasonable rules under the rulemaking provisions of the Montana Administrative Procedure Act to implement this chapter. The rules are binding upon election administrators. (2) The rules must provide that: (a) there are uniform statewide stan…

(1) The voting procedures in this chapter apply to: (a) a general, special, presidential preference, or primary election for federal office; (b) a general, special, recall, or primary election for statewide or state legislative office or state ballot measure. (2) Nothing in this …

(1) The secretary of state is the state official responsible for implementing the provisions of this chapter and the state's responsibilities under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, 52 U.S.C. 20301, et seq. (2) The secretary of state shall make available to…

(1) A covered voter may use a digital signature as proof that the voter is the sender when the voter is electronically transmitting any of the following documents to an election administrator pursuant to this chapter: (a) a federal postcard application; (b) an application for vot…