Montana Code 13-35-211. Electioneering — soliciting information from electors
13-35-211. Electioneering — soliciting information from electors. (1) A person may not do any electioneering on election day within any polling place or any building in which an election is being held or within 100 feet of any entrance to the building in which the polling place is located that aids or promotes the success or defeat of any candidate or ballot issue to be voted upon at the election.
Terms Used In Montana Code 13-35-211
- Anything of value: means any goods that have a certain utility to the recipient that is real and that is ordinarily not given away free but is purchased. See Montana Code 13-1-101
- 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
- Election judge: means a person who is appointed pursuant to Title 13, chapter 4, part 1, to perform duties as specified by law. 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
- 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
(2)On election day, a candidate, a family member of a candidate, or a worker or volunteer for the candidate’s campaign may not distribute alcohol, tobacco, food, drink, or anything of value to a voter within a polling place or a building in which an election is being held or within 100 feet of an entrance to the building in which the polling place is located.
(3)A person may not buy, sell, give, wear, or display at or about the polls on an election day any badge, button, or other insignia that is designed or tends to aid or promote the success or defeat of any candidate or ballot issue to be voted upon at the election.
(4)A person within a polling place or any building in which an election is being held may not solicit from an elector, before or after the elector has marked a ballot and returned it to an election judge, information as to whether the elector intends to vote or has voted for or against a candidate or ballot issue.