Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 2 > Chapter 3 > Part 2 - Open Meetings

• 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

• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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
• Elector: means an individual qualified to vote under state law. 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
• 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
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• 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
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• 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
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• 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
• 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.
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• 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
• 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