13-35-205. Tampering with election records and information. A person is guilty of tampering with public records or information and is punishable as provided in 45-7-208 whenever the person:

Terms Used In Montana Code 13-35-205

  • 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
  • Elector: means an individual qualified to vote under state law. 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
  • Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, association, firm, partnership, cooperative, committee, including a political committee, club, union, or other organization or group of individuals or a candidate as defined in subsection (8). See Montana Code 13-1-101
  • 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

(1)suppresses any declaration or certificate of nomination that has been filed;

(2)purposely causes a vote to be incorrectly recorded as to the candidate or ballot issue voted on;

(3)in an election return, knowingly adds to or subtracts from the votes actually cast at the election;

(4)changes any ballot after it has been completed by the elector;

(5)adds a ballot to those legally polled at an election, either before or after the ballots have been counted, with the purpose of changing the result of the election;

(6)causes a name to be placed on the registry lists other than in the manner provided by this title;

(7)changes a poll list or checklist;

(8)installs a modem or other unauthorized external communication device in a voting system; or

(9)employs a modem or other unauthorized external communication device to transmit data to or from a voting system.