Montana Code 13-10-209. Arrangement and preparing of primary ballots
13-10-209. Arrangement and preparing of primary ballots. (1) (a) Ballots for a primary election must be arranged and prepared in the same manner and number as provided in chapter 12 for general election ballots, except that there must be separate ballots for each political party entitled to participate. The name of the political party must appear at the top of the separate ballot for that party and need not appear with each candidate‘s name.
Terms Used In Montana Code 13-10-209
- Ballot: means a paper ballot counted manually or a paper ballot counted by a machine, such as an optical scan system or other technology that automatically tabulates votes cast by processing the paper ballots. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- Candidate: means :
(a)an individual who has filed a declaration or petition for nomination, acceptance of nomination, or appointment as a candidate for public office as required by law;
(b)for the purposes of chapter 35, 36, or 37, an individual who has solicited or received and retained contributions, made expenditures, or given consent to an individual, organization, political party, or committee to solicit or receive and retain contributions or make expenditures on the individual's behalf to secure nomination or election to any office at any time, whether or not the office for which the individual will seek nomination or election is known when the:
(i)solicitation is made;
(ii)contribution is received and retained; or
(iii)expenditure is made; or
(c)an officeholder who is the subject of a recall election. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- Election: means a general, special, or primary election held pursuant to the requirements of state law, regardless of the time or purpose. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- Election administrator: means , except as provided in subsection (14)(b), the county clerk and recorder or the individual designated by a county governing body to be responsible for all election administration duties, except that with regard to school elections not administered by the county, the term means the school district clerk. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- Elector: means an individual qualified to vote under state law. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- General election: means an election that is held for offices that first appear on a primary election ballot, unless the primary is canceled as authorized by law, and that is held on a date specified in 13-1-104. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- issue: means a proposal submitted to the people at an election for their approval or rejection, including but not limited to an initiative, referendum, proposed constitutional amendment, recall question, school levy question, bond issue question, or ballot question. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- primary election: means an election held on a date specified in 13-1-107 to nominate candidates for offices filled at a general election. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(b)Nonpartisan offices and ballot issues may be prepared on separate ballots or may appear on the same ballot as partisan offices if:
(i)each section is clearly identified as separate; and
(ii)the nonpartisan offices and ballot issues appear on each party’s ballot.
(2)Except as provided in subsection (3), an election administrator does not need to prepare a primary ballot for a political party if:
(a)the party does not have candidates for more than half of the offices to appear on the ballot; and
(b)no more than one candidate files for nomination by that party for any of the offices to appear on the ballot.
(3)Subsection (2) does not apply to elections for precinct committee offices. If more than one candidate files for a precinct committee office from a party that will not have a primary ballot prepared, that party shall select the candidate to fill the office.
(4)If, pursuant to subsection (2), in a primary election held in an even-numbered year a primary ballot for a political party is not prepared, the secretary of state shall certify that a primary election is unnecessary for that party and shall instruct the election administrator to certify the names of the candidates for that party for the general election ballot only.
(5)The separate ballots for each party must have the same appearance. Each set of party ballots must bear the same number. If prepared as a separate ballot, the nonpartisan ballot may have a different appearance than the party ballots but must be numbered in the same order as the party ballots.
(6)If a ballot issue is to be voted on at a primary election, it may be placed on the nonpartisan ballot or a separate ballot. A separate ballot may have a different appearance than the other ballots in the election but must be numbered in the same order.
(7)Each elector must receive a set of ballots that includes the party, nonpartisan, and ballot issue choices.