13-38-201. Election or appointment of committee representatives at primary — vacancies — tie votes. (1) Each political party shall appoint or elect at each primary election one person of each sex, as defined in 1-1-201, to serve as committee representatives for each election precinct. The committee representatives must be residents and registered voters of the precinct.

Terms Used In Montana Code 13-38-201

  • 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 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
  • Individual: means a human being. 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
  • 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
  • Sex: means the organization of the body parts and gametes for reproduction in human beings and other organisms. See Montana Code 1-1-201

(2)If a political party chooses to appoint precinct committee representatives, the political party shall make the appointments as provided in the party’s rules.

(3)If a political party chooses to elect precinct committee representatives, the party may:

(a)administer the election itself as provided in the party’s rules; or

(b)elect precinct committee representatives in a primary election, subject to 13-10-209 and subsection (4) of this section.

(4)In a primary election for a precinct committee representative:

(a)if the number of candidates nominated for a party’s precinct committee representatives is less than or equal to the number of positions to be elected, the election administrator may give notice that a party’s precinct committee election will not be held in that precinct;

(b)if a party precinct committee election is not held pursuant to subsection (4)(a), the election administrator shall declare elected by acclamation the candidate who filed for the position or who filed a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate. The election administrator shall issue a certificate of election to the designated party.

(c)write-in votes for a precinct committee representative may be counted as specified in 13-15-206(5) only if the individual whose name is written in has filed a declaration of intent as a write-in candidate by the deadline prescribed in 13-10-211(1);

(d)in the case of a tie vote for a precinct committee representative position, the county central committee shall determine a winner.

(5)Pursuant to 13-38-101, a vacancy in a precinct committee representative position must be filled by the party governing body as provided in its rules.