Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 13 > Chapter 37 > Part 5 - Prohibiting Foreign Influence in Elections

• 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

• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• 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
• 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
• 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

• Individual: means a human being. 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.
• 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
• 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
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201