Montana Code 13-10-211. Declaration of intent for write-in candidates
13-10-211. Declaration of intent for write-in candidates. (1) A person seeking to become a write-in candidate for an office in any election shall file a declaration of intent. Except for a candidate under 13-38-201(4) or a candidate covered under 7-1-205, a candidate may not file for more than one public office. The declaration of intent must be filed with the secretary of state or election administrator, depending on where a declaration of nomination for the desired office is required to be filed under 13-10-201, or with the school district clerk for a school district office. When a county election administrator is conducting the election for a school district, the school district clerk or school district office that receives the declaration of intent shall notify the county election administrator of the filing. Except as provided in 13-1-403, 13-1-503, 20-3-305(3)(b), and subsection (2) of this section, the declaration must be filed no later than 5 p.m. on the 10th day before the earliest date established under 13-13-205 on which a ballot must be available and must contain:
Terms Used In Montana Code 13-10-211
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
(a)the candidate’s name, including:
(i)the candidate’s first and last names;
(ii)the candidate’s initials, if any, used instead of a first name, or first and middle name, and the candidate’s last name;
(iii)the candidate’s nickname, if any, used instead of a first name, and the candidate’s last name; and
(iv)a derivative or diminutive name, if any, used instead of a first name, and the candidate’s last name;
(b)the candidate’s mailing address;
(c)a statement declaring the candidate’s intention to be a write-in candidate;
(d)the title of the office sought;
(e)the date of the election;
(f)the date of the declaration; and
(g)the candidate’s signature.
(2)A declaration of intent may be filed after the deadline provided for in subsection (1) but no later than 5 p.m. on the day before the election if, after the deadline prescribed in subsection (1), a candidate for the office that the write-in candidate is seeking dies or is charged with a felony offense and if the election has not been canceled as provided by law.
(3)The secretary of state shall notify each election administrator of the names of write-in candidates who have filed a declaration of intent with the secretary of state. Each election administrator shall notify the election judges in the county or district of the names of write-in candidates who have filed a declaration of intent.
(4)A properly completed and signed declaration of intent may be provided to the election administrator or secretary of state:
(a)by facsimile transmission;
(b)in person;
(c)by mail; or
(d)by electronic mail.
(5)A declaration is not valid until the filing fee required pursuant to 13-10-202 is received by the secretary of state or the election administrator.
(6)A write-in candidate who files a declaration of intent for a general election may not file with a partisan, nonpartisan, or independent designation.