Terms Used In Montana Code 13-37-225

• 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
• Contribution: means :

  (i)the receipt by a candidate or a political committee of an advance, gift, loan, conveyance, deposit, payment, or distribution of money or anything of value to support or oppose a candidate or a ballot issue;

  (ii)an expenditure, including an in-kind expenditure, that is made in coordination with a candidate or ballot issue committee and is reportable by the candidate or ballot issue committee as a contribution;

  (iii)the receipt by a political committee of funds transferred from another political committee; or

  (iv)the payment by a person other than a candidate or political committee of compensation for the personal services of another person that are rendered to a candidate or political committee. 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 communication: means the following forms of communication to support or oppose a candidate or ballot issue:

  (i)a paid advertisement broadcast over radio, television, cable, or satellite;

  (ii)paid placement of content on the internet or other electronic communication network;

  (iii)a paid advertisement published in a newspaper or periodical or on a billboard;

  (iv)a mailing; or

  (v)printed materials. See Montana Code 13-1-101

• Electioneering communication: means a paid communication that is publicly distributed by radio, television, cable, satellite, internet website, newspaper, periodical, billboard, mail, or any other distribution of printed materials, that is made within 60 days of the initiation of voting in an election, that does not support or oppose a candidate or ballot issue, that can be received by more than 100 recipients in the district voting on the candidate or ballot issue, and that:

  (i)refers to one or more clearly identified candidates in that election;

  (ii)depicts the name, image, likeness, or voice of one or more clearly identified candidates in that election; or

  (iii)refers to a political party, ballot issue, or other question submitted to the voters in that election. See Montana Code 13-1-101

• 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

• Independent expenditure: means an expenditure for an election communication to support or oppose a candidate or ballot issue made at any time that is not coordinated with a candidate or ballot issue committee. 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
• 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