Montana Code 13-14-118. Vacancies among nominees after nomination and before general election
13-14-118. Vacancies among nominees after nomination and before general election. (1) If after the primary election and before the 85th day before the general election a candidate is not able to run for the office for any reason, the vacancy must be filled by the candidate next in rank in number of votes received in the primary election.
Terms Used In Montana Code 13-14-118
- 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
- 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
- Individual: means a human being. 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
- 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
(2)If a vacancy for a nonpartisan nomination cannot be filled as provided in subsection (1) and the vacancy occurs no later than 85 days before the general election, a 10-day period for accepting declarations for nomination or statements of candidacy and nominating petitions for the office must be declared by:
(a)the governor for national, state, judicial district, legislative, or any multicounty district office;
(b)the governing body of the appropriate political subdivision for all other offices.
(3)The names of the candidates who filed as provided in subsection (2) must be certified and must appear on the general election ballot in the same manner as candidates nominated in the primary.
(4)If the vacancy occurs later than 85 days before the general election and a qualified individual is not elected to the office at the general election, the office is vacant and must be filled as provided by law.