Terms Used In Montana Code 13-37-201

• 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

• Commissioner: means the commissioner of political practices created by 13-37-102. See Montana Code 13-37-101
• Expenditure: means a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, promise, pledge, or gift of money or anything of value:

  (i)made by a candidate or political committee to support or oppose a candidate or a ballot issue;

  (ii)made by a candidate while the candidate is engaging in campaign activity to pay child-care expenses as provided in 13-37-220; or

  (iii)used or intended for use in making independent expenditures or in producing electioneering communications. 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

• 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