Title 13, Title 13

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) through (4), the state, the secretary of state, a county, a municipality, or the officers or employees of those entities may not accept, use, or dispose of a donation in the form of money, grants, property, or personal services from an in…

(1) A person may not make public the results of a vote tally from a precinct until after the polls close as provided in 13-1-106. (2) (a) A person who knowingly violates subsection (1) shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a term not to exceed 2 years or be fined an amount …

(1) A political committee may not direct, coordinate, manage, or conduct any voter identification efforts, voter registration drives, signature collection efforts, ballot collection efforts, or voter turnout efforts for a federal, state, local, or school election inside a residen…

A person who knowingly makes a false entry on a petition or affidavit required by Title 13, chapter 27 or 28, or who knowingly signs a petition to qualify the same political party for the same primary election more than once is guilty of unsworn falsification or tampering with pu…

A person may not knowingly or purposefully physically prevent an individual from obtaining signatures or attempting to obtain signatures on a petition for a statewide or local government ballot issue or physically intimidate another individual when that individual is obtaining or…

The following code of fair campaign practices is adopted by Montana: "There are basic principles of decency, honesty, and fair play that every candidate for public office in the United States has a moral obligation to observe and uphold, in order that, after vigorously contested …

(1) The commissioner of political practices shall prepare a form that sets forth the code of fair campaign practices provided for in 13-35-301 and a place for a candidate to sign the form and to indicate that the candidate endorses, subscribes to, and pledges to abide by the code…

This part may be referred to as the "Clean Campaign Act".

(1) A candidate or a political committee shall at the time specified in subsection (3) provide to candidates listed in subsection (2) any final copy of campaign advertising in print media, in printed material, or by broadcast media that is intended for public distribution in the …

A person who violates 13-35-402 is liable in a civil action pursuant to 13-37-128.

This part may be cited as the "Prohibition on Corporate Contributions and Expenditures in Montana Elections Act".

The people of the state of Montana find that: (1) since 1912, through passage of the Corrupt Practices Act by initiative, Montana has prohibited corporate contributions to and expenditures on candidate elections; (2) in 1996, by passage of Initiative No. 125, Montana prohibited c…

(1) It is policy of the state of Montana that each elected and appointed official in Montana, whether acting on a state or federal level, advance the philosophy that corporations are not human beings with constitutional rights and that each such elected and appointed official is …

(1) Montana's congressional delegation is charged with proposing a joint resolution offering an amendment to the United States constitution that accomplishes the following: (a) overturns the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission; (b) establ…

This part may be cited as the "Montana Third-Party Voter Registration Integrity Act".

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Campaign literature" means material that advocates the success or defeat of a candidate, political party, or ballot issue. (2) "Third-party registrar" means a person, other than an election official, who is supporting an…

A third-party registrar may not mail a voter registration or absentee ballot application in the same envelope as campaign literature if the envelope is marked to resemble a mailing from an election office.

A third-party registrar may not mail or advise an applicant to mail a voter registration or absentee ballot application to any address other than the county election administrator's address in the applicant's county of residence.

This part may be cited as the "Montana Ballot Interference Prevention Act".

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Acquaintance" means an individual known by the voter. (2) "Caregiver" means an individual who provides medical or health care assistance to the voter in a residence, nursing care institution, hospice facility, assisted l…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a person may not knowingly collect a voter's voted or unvoted ballot. (2) This section does not apply to: (a) an election official; (b) a United States postal service worker or other individual specifically authorized by law to transmit U…

An individual permitted to collect and convey a ballot under 13-35-703(2)(c) through (2)(f) shall sign a registry when delivering the ballot to the polling place, a place of deposit, or the election administrator's office. In addition to the signature requirement, the individual …

A violation of a provision of this part is punishable by a fine of $500 for each ballot unlawfully collected.

As used in this part, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply: (1) (a) "AI-generated content" means image, video, audio, multimedia, or text content that is substantially created or modified by generative artificial intelligence in a manner…

(1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(b), a person, corporation, committee, political party, or other entity, working in an official election capacity, may not, within 60 days of the initiation of voting in an election at which a candidate for elective office appears on th…

(1) In addition to any other penalties or remedies provided by law, a candidate or political party representing the candidate aggrieved by a violation of 13-35-802 may maintain an action against any violator in any court of equitable jurisdiction to prevent, restrain, or enjoin t…

(1) A complaint of 13-35-802 may be filed with the commissioner of political practices pursuant to 13-37-111. A sufficiency finding from the commissioner of an investigation into a complaint filed under 13-37-111 is subject to civil penalties under 13-37-128 imposed by the commis…

An elector may contest the right of any person to any nomination or election to public office for which the elector has the right to vote if the elector believes that: (1) a deliberate, serious, and material violation of any provision of the law relating to nominations or electio…

(1) Five days or less after a candidate has been certified as nominated, a person wishing to contest the nomination to any public office shall give notice in writing to the candidate whose nomination the person intends to contest, briefly stating the cause for the contest. The co…

An application for filing a statement, payment of a claim, or correction of an error or false recital in a filed statement or an action or proceeding to annul and set aside the election of any person declared elected to an office or to remove or deprive any person of the person's…

In the case of nomination contests, the judge of the district court shall hear and determine the case and make all necessary orders for the trial of the case and carrying the judgment into effect. The order of the judge must express the will of a majority of the legal voters of t…

Any petition contesting the right of any person to a nomination or election must set forth the name of every person whose election is contested and the grounds of the contest. The petition may not be amended unless the amendment is authorized by a court.

When the reception of illegal votes is alleged as a cause of contest, it is sufficient to state generally that in one or more specified voting precincts illegal votes were given to the candidate whose nomination or election is contested that, if taken from the candidate, will red…

(1) A petition or complaint filed under the provisions of this chapter is sufficient if it is in substantially the following form: In the District Court of the .... Judicial District, for the County of ...., State of Montana. A B (or A B and C D), Contestants, vs. E F, Contestee.…

Before any proceeding on the petition, the petitioner shall give bond to the state in a sum that the court may order, not exceeding $2,000, with not less than two sureties, who shall justify in the manner required of sureties on bail bonds, conditioned to pay all costs, disbursem…

In any contest, the prevailing party may recover the party's costs, disbursements, and reasonable attorney fees. Costs, disbursements, and attorney fees in all cases must be in the discretion of the court. If judgment is rendered against the petitioner, it must also be rendered a…

On the filing of a petition under this part, the clerk shall immediately notify the judge of the court and issue a citation to the person whose nomination or office is contested, citing the person to appear and answer not less than 3 or more than 7 days after the date of filing t…

The petitioner (contestant) and the contestee may appear and produce evidence at the hearing, but no person other than the petitioner and contestee may be made a party to the proceedings on the petition and no person other than the parties and their attorneys may be heard except …

Proceedings under this title must be advanced on the docket upon request of either party for speedy trial, but the court may postpone or continue the trial if necessary, and in case of a continuance or postponement, the court may impose costs in its discretion as a condition of t…

Upon the trial of any action or proceeding under the provisions of this title to contest the right of any person to be declared nominated or elected to any office or to annul or set aside a nomination or election or to remove a person from office, the nomination or election of th…

If, upon the trial of any action or proceeding under the provisions of this title to contest the right of any person to be declared to be nominated to an office or elected to an office or to annul and set aside the election or to remove any person from office, it appears that the…

The ground of contest specified in 13-36-101(3) may not be construed to authorize a nomination or election to be set aside on account of illegal votes unless it appears: (1) that the candidate or nominee whose right is contested had knowledge of or connived in the illegal votes; …

If, in any case of a contest on the ground of illegal votes, it appears that a person other than the one returned has the highest number of legal votes after the illegal votes have been eliminated, the court must declare such person nominated or elected, as the case may be.

As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply: (1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of political practices created by 13-37-102. (2) "Public office" has the meaning provided in 13-1-101. (3) "Recusal" means disqualif…

(1) There is a commissioner of political practices who is appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by a majority of the senate. (2) (a) A four-member nomination committee composed of the speaker of the house, the president of the senate, and the minority leaders of both…

Subject to the provisions of 13-37-104, the individual selected to serve as commissioner is appointed for a 6-year term and may not be reappointed to serve as commissioner.