Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 13 > Chapter 15 - Canvassing, Returns, and Certificates

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Agency: means any board, bureau, commission, department, authority, or officer of the state or local government authorized by law to make rules, determine contested cases, or enter into contracts except:

  (a)the legislature and any branch, committee, or officer thereof;

  (b)the judicial branches and any committee or officer thereof;

  (c)the governor, except that an agency is not exempt because the governor has been designated as a member thereof; or

  (d)the state military establishment and agencies concerned with civil defense and recovery from hostile attack. See Montana Code 2-3-102

• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• 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

• Chief judge: The judge who has primary responsibility for the administration of a court but also decides cases; chief judges are determined by seniority.
• 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
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• 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.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• 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
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• 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
• 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
• Printing: means the act of reproducing a design on a surface by any process. See Montana Code 1-1-203
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Provisional ballot: means a ballot cast by an elector whose identity or eligibility to vote has not been verified as provided by law. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Several: means two or more. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Signature envelope: means an envelope that contains a secrecy envelope and ballot and that is designed to:

  (a)allow election officials, upon examination of the outside of the envelope, to determine that the ballot is being submitted by someone who is in fact a qualified elector and who has not already voted; and

  (b)allow it to be used in the United States mail. 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
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203