Montana Code 13-10-326. Vacancy prior to primary election
13-10-326. Vacancy prior to primary election. (1) If a candidate for nomination for a partisan office dies or withdraws before the candidate filing deadline established in 13-10-201(7), the affected political party may appoint someone to replace the candidate by the procedure provided in 13-10-327.
Terms Used In Montana Code 13-10-326
- 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
- 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
(2)Except as provided in subsection (3), if a candidate for nomination for a partisan office dies after the candidate filing deadline established in 13-10-201(7), or is disqualified pursuant to 13-37-126 from having the candidate’s name appear on the primary election ballot, the affected political party shall appoint a candidate after the primary election as provided in 13-10-327 if a candidate for that office for that party was not nominated at the primary election.
(3)A political party may not appoint a candidate for an office if no candidate for nomination by that party filed for the office before the primary election or if the deadline for certifying candidate names for the ballot pursuant to 13-10-208 has passed.