Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 13 > Chapter 37 - Control of Campaign Practices

• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• 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

• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of political practices created by 13-37-102. See Montana Code 13-37-101
• Contiguous: means any area that, at the time annexation procedures are initiated, either abuts directly on the municipal boundary or is separated from the municipal boundary by a street or street right-of-way, a creek or river, the right-of-way of a railroad or other public service corporation, lands owned by the city or some other political subdivision, or lands owned by the state. See Montana Code 7-2-4704
• 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 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 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

• Entity: means a partnership, association, limited liability company, joint venture, corporation, or any other legal or commercial organization, or a combination of entities. See Montana Code 13-37-501
• 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

• Federal election: means an election in even-numbered years in which an elector may vote for individuals for the office of president of the United States or for the United States congress. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Foreign national: means :

  (a)a government of a foreign country;

  (b)a political party of a foreign country;

  (c)an entity located outside of the United States unless that entity:

  (i)is organized under or created under federal law, state law, or the law of another place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; and

  (ii)has its principal place of business within the United States;

  (d)an entity that:

  (i)is organized under the laws of a foreign country; or

  (ii)has its principal place of business in a foreign country; and

  (e)an individual who is not lawfully admitted for the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant in accordance with immigration laws and who is not:

  (i)a citizen of the United States; or

  (ii)a person who, though not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the United States. See Montana Code 13-37-501

• 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
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Impeachment: (1) The process of calling something into question, as in "impeaching the testimony of a witness." (2) The constitutional process whereby the House of Representatives may "impeach" (accuse of misconduct) high officers of the federal government for trial in the Senate.
• Incidental committee: means a political committee that is not specifically organized or operating for the primary purpose of supporting or opposing candidates or ballot issues but that may incidentally become a political committee by receiving a contribution or making an expenditure. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Independent committee: means a political committee organized for the primary purpose of receiving contributions and making expenditures that is not controlled either directly or indirectly by a candidate and that does not coordinate with a candidate in conjunction with the making of expenditures except pursuant to the limits set forth in 13-37-216(1). 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
• 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
• Knowingly: means only a knowledge that the facts exist which bring the act or omission within the provisions of this code. See Montana Code 1-1-204
• Municipality: means any incorporated city or town. See Montana Code 7-2-4704
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• 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

• Political party committee: means a political committee formed by a political party organization and includes all county and city central committees. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• 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
• Public office: has the meaning provided in 13-1-101. See Montana Code 13-37-101
• Recusal: means disqualification from a matter by reason of prejudice or conflict of interest. See Montana Code 13-37-101
• Relative: means a family member who is within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity to the commissioner. See Montana Code 13-37-101
• Religious organization: means a house of worship with the major purpose of supporting religious activities, including but not limited to a church, mosque, shrine, synagogue, or temple. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Special election: means an election held on a day other than the day specified for a primary election, general election, or regular school election. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Special purpose district: means an area with special boundaries created as authorized by law for a specialized and limited purpose. See Montana Code 13-1-101
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• 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