13-12-207. Order of placement. (1) The order on the ballot for state and federal offices must be as follows:

Terms Used In Montana Code 13-12-207

  • 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
  • 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
  • Political subdivision: means a county, consolidated municipal-county government, municipality, special purpose district, or any other unit of government, except school districts, having authority to hold an 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
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201

(a)If the election is in a year in which a president of the United States is to be elected, in spaces separated from the balance of the party tickets by a line must be the names and spaces for voting for candidates for president and vice president. The names of candidates for president and vice president for each political party must be grouped together.

(b)United States senator;

(c)United States representative;

(d)governor and lieutenant governor;

(e)secretary of state;

(f)attorney general;

(g)state auditor;

(h)state superintendent of public instruction;

(i)public service commissioners;

(j)clerk of the supreme court;

(k)chief justice of the supreme court;

(l)justices of the supreme court;

(m)district court judges;

(n)state senators;

(o)members of the Montana house of representatives.

(2)The following order of placement must be observed for county offices:

(a)clerk of the district court;

(b)county commissioner;

(c)county clerk and recorder;

(d)sheriff;

(e)coroner;

(f)county attorney;

(g)county superintendent of schools;

(h)county auditor;

(i)public administrator;

(j)county assessor;

(k)county treasurer;

(l)surveyor;

(m)justice of the peace.

(3)The secretary of state shall designate the order for placement on the ballot of any offices not on the above lists, except that the election administrator shall designate the order of placement for municipal, charter, or consolidated local government offices and district offices when the district is part of only one county.

(4)Constitutional amendments must be placed before statewide referendum and initiative measures. Ballot issues for a county, municipality, school district, or other political subdivision must follow statewide measures in the order designated by the election administrator.

(5)If any offices are not to be elected they may not be listed, but the order of the offices to be filled must be maintained.

(6)If there is a short-term and a long-term election for the same office, the long-term office must precede the short-term.

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