Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 2 > Chapter 3 - Public Participation in Governmental Operations

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affidavit: means a sworn written declaration made before an officer authorized to administer oaths or an unsworn written declaration made under penalty of perjury as provided in 1-6-105. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Agency: means any board, bureau, commission, department, authority, or officer of the state or local government authorized by law to make rules, determine contested cases, or enter into contracts except:

  (a)the legislature and any branch, committee, or officer thereof;

  (b)the judicial branches and any committee or officer thereof;

  (c)the governor, except that an agency is not exempt because the governor has been designated as a member thereof; or

  (d)the state military establishment and agencies concerned with civil defense and recovery from hostile attack. See Montana Code 2-3-102

• Agency action: means the whole or a part of the adoption of an agency rule, the issuance of a license or order, the award of a contract, or the equivalent or denial thereof. See Montana Code 2-3-102
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• 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

• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• Computer software expert: means a person who has obtained a bachelor of science degree in computer science with expertise in software engineering and who is not affiliated with an election software vendor. See Montana Code 13-17-502
• County audit committee: means the committee that conducts a random-sample audit in a county. See Montana Code 13-17-502
• Disability: means a temporary or permanent mental or physical impairment such as:

  (a)impaired vision;

  (b)impaired hearing;

  (c)impaired mobility. 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
• 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
• Election official: means an election administrator, election deputy, or election judge. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Elector: means an individual qualified to vote under state law. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Federal election: means an election in even-numbered years in which an elector may vote for individuals for the office of president of the United States or for the United States congress. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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
• Inactive list: means a list of inactive electors maintained pursuant to 13-2-220 or 13-19-313. 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
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Legally registered elector: means an individual whose application for voter registration was accepted, processed, and verified as provided by law. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Mail ballot election: means any election that is conducted under Title 13, chapter 19, by mailing ballots to all active electors. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• meeting: means the convening of a quorum of the constituent membership of a public agency or association described in 2-3-203, whether corporal or by means of electronic equipment, to hear, discuss, or act upon a matter over which the agency has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power. See Montana Code 2-3-202
• Oath: includes an affirmation or declaration. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Peace officer: has the meaning as defined in 46-1-202. See Montana Code 1-1-207
• 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
• Place of deposit: means a location designated by the election administrator pursuant to 13-19-307 for a mail ballot election conducted under Title 13, chapter 19. 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
• Polling place election: means an election primarily conducted at polling places rather than by mail under the provisions of Title 13, chapter 19. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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
• Provisional ballot: means a ballot cast by an elector whose identity or eligibility to vote has not been verified as provided by law. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Provisionally registered elector: means an individual whose application for voter registration was accepted but whose identity or eligibility has not yet been verified as provided by law. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Public office: means a state, county, municipal, school, or other district office that is filled by the people at an election. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Random-sample audit: means an audit involving a manual count of ballots from designated races and ballot issues in precincts selected through a random process as provided in 13-17-503 and 13-17-510. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Rule: means any agency regulation, standard, or statement of general applicability that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy or describes the organization, procedures, or practice requirements of any agency. See Montana Code 2-3-102
• School election: has the meaning provided in 20-1-101. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• School election filing officer: means the filing officer with whom the declarations for nomination for school district office were filed or with whom the school ballot issue was filed. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• School recount board: means the board authorized pursuant to 20-20-420 to perform recount duties in school elections. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Signature envelope: means an envelope that contains a secrecy envelope and ballot and that is designed to:

  (a)allow election officials, upon examination of the outside of the envelope, to determine that the ballot is being submitted by someone who is in fact a qualified elector and who has not already voted; and

  (b)allow it to be used in the United States mail. See Montana Code 13-1-101

• Special election: means an election held on a day other than the day specified for a primary election, general election, or regular school election. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Special purpose district: means an area with special boundaries created as authorized by law for a specialized and limited purpose. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• 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
• Usual: means according to usage. See Montana Code 1-1-206
• Valid vote: means a vote that has been counted as valid or determined to be valid as provided in 13-15-206. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Vote-counting machine: means an individual piece of equipment used to automatically tabulate votes. See Montana Code 13-17-502
• Voted ballot: means a ballot that is:

  (a)deposited in the ballot box at a polling place;

  (b)received at the election administrator's office; or

  (c)returned to a place of deposit. See Montana Code 13-1-101

• Voter interface device: means a voting system that:

  (a)is accessible to electors with disabilities;

  (b)communicates voting instructions and ballot information to a voter;

  (c)allows the voter to select and vote for candidates and issues and to verify and change selections; and

  (d)produces a paper ballot that displays electors' choices so the elector can confirm the ballot's accuracy and that may be manually counted. See Montana Code 13-1-101