Montana Code 13-17-103. Required specifications for voting systems
13-17-103. Required specifications for voting systems. (1) A voting system may not be approved under 13-17-101 unless the voting system:
Terms Used In Montana Code 13-17-103
- 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
- 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.
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- 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
- 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
(a)allows an elector to vote in secrecy;
(b)prevents an elector from voting for any candidate or on any ballot issue more than once;
(c)prevents an elector from voting on any office or ballot issue for which the elector is not entitled to vote;
(d)allows an elector to vote only for the candidates of the party selected by the elector in the primary election;
(e)allows an elector to vote a split ticket in a general election if the elector desires;
(f)allows each valid vote cast to be registered and recorded within the performance standards adopted pursuant to subsection (3);
(g)is protected from tampering for a fraudulent purpose;
(h)prevents an individual from seeing or knowing the number of votes registered for any candidate or on any ballot issue during the progress of voting;
(i)allows write-in voting;
(j)will, if purchased by a jurisdiction within the state, be provided with a guarantee that the training and technical assistance will be provided to election officials under the contract for purchase of the voting system;
(k)uses a paper ballot that allows votes to be manually counted;
(l)allows auditors to access and monitor any software program while it is running on the system to determine whether the software is running properly;
(m)is certified by the manufacturer to be free of any modems or other unauthorized external communication devices; and
(n)has been tested by a third-party tester before its first use to validate the manufacturer’s certification required in subsection (1)(m).
(2)A voter interface device may not be approved for use in this state unless:
(a)the device meets the electronic security standards adopted by the secretary of state;
(b)the device provides accessible voting technology for electors with hearing, vision, speech, or ambulatory impairments;
(c)the device meets all requirements specified in subsection (1);
(d)the device has been made available for demonstration and use by electors with disabilities in at least one public event held by the secretary of state;
(e)disabled electors have been able to participate in the process of determining whether the system meets accessibility standards; and
(f)the device is certified by the manufacturer to be free of any modems or other unauthorized external communication devices.
(3)To implement the provisions of subsection (1)(f), the secretary of state shall adopt rules setting a benchmark performance standard that must be met in tests by each voting system prior to approval under 13-17-101. The standard must be based on commonly accepted industry standards for readily available technologies.
(4)(a) The secretary of state shall adopt rules implementing the provisions of subsection (1)(n) and defining approved third-party testers and the testing process for voting systems.
(b)A county that acquires the new voting system shall cover the cost of the third-party test. A county may conduct additional third-party tests throughout the life of the voting system, and of the voting systems already in the county’s possession and use, at the county’s discretion and expense following the rules adopted by the secretary of state pursuant to subsection (4)(a).