13-37-228. Time periods covered by reports. Reports filed under 13-37-225 and 13-37-226 must be filed to cover the following time periods even though no contributions or expenditures may have been received or made during the period:

Terms Used In Montana Code 13-37-228

  • 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
  • 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
  • Political committee: means a combination of two or more individuals or a person other than an individual who receives a contribution or makes an expenditure:

    (i)to support or oppose a candidate or a committee organized to support or oppose a candidate or a petition for nomination;

    (ii)to support or oppose a ballot issue or a committee organized to support or oppose a ballot issue; or

    (iii)to prepare or disseminate an election communication, an electioneering communication, or an independent expenditure. 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
  • Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
  • 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

(1)The initial report must cover all contributions received or expenditures made by a candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee from the time that a person became a candidate a political committee, as defined in 13-1-101, or a joint fundraising committee, as provided in 13-37-211, until the 5th day before the date of filing of the appropriate initial report pursuant to 13-37-226. Reports filed by political committees organized to support or oppose a statewide ballot issue must disclose all contributions received and expenditures made prior to the time a proposed issue is submitted to the secretary of state in 13-27-214 even if the issue subsequently fails to complete the review process or fails to garner sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot.

(2)Subsequent periodic reports must cover the period of time from the closing of the previous report to 5 days before the date of filing of a report pursuant to 13-37-226. For the purposes of this subsection, the reports required under 13-37-226(1)(c), (1)(d), (2)(c), and (2)(d) are not periodic reports and must be filed as required by 13-37-226(1)(c), (1)(d), (2)(c), and (2)(d), as applicable.

(3)Closing reports must cover the period of time from the last periodic report to the final closing of the books of the candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee. A candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee shall file a closing report following an election in which the candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee participates whenever all debts and obligations are satisfied and further contributions or expenditures will not be received or made that relate to the campaign unless the election is a primary election and the candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee will participate in the general election.

(4)If all debts and obligations are satisfied and further contributions or expenditures will not be received or made, a joint fundraising committee may file a closing report at any time.