Montana Code 13-12-202. Ballot form and uniformity
13-12-202. Ballot form and uniformity. (1) The secretary of state shall adopt statewide uniform rules that prescribe the ballot form for each type of ballot used in this state. The rules must conform to the provisions of this title unless the voting system used clearly requires otherwise. At a minimum, the rules must address:
Terms Used In Montana Code 13-12-202
- 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
- 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
- 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
- system: means any machine, device, technology, or equipment used to automatically record, tabulate, or process the vote of an elector cast on a paper ballot. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(a)the manner in which each type of ballot may be corrected under 13-12-204;
(b)what provisions must be made on the ballot for write-in candidates;
(c)the size and content of stubs on paper ballots, except as provided in 13-19-106(1);
(d)how unvoted ballots must be handled;
(e)how the number of individuals voting and the number of ballots cast must be recorded; and
(f)the order and arrangement of voting system ballots.
(2)The names of all candidates that appear on the face of a ballot must appear in the same font size and style.
(3)Notwithstanding 13-19-106(1) and except as provided in 13-3-208, when the stubs are detached, it must be impossible to distinguish any one of the ballots from another ballot for the same office or issue.
(4)The ballots must contain the name of each candidate whose nomination is certified under law for an office and no other names, except that the names of candidates for president and vice president of the United States must appear on the ballot as provided in 13-25-101(5).