ELECTION
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OF THE
State of Montana
1931
Arranged and Compiled from Revised Codes of Montana of 1921, as Amended
Published by W. E. Harmon Secretary of State
Montana State Library
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ELECTION LAWS
OF THE
State of Montana
1931
Arranged and Compiled from Revised Codes of Montana of 1921, as Amended
Published by W. E. Harmon
Secretary of State
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
To the Electors of the State of Montana:
Under Section 807, Revised Codes of the State of Montana, 1921, "It is the duty of the Secretary of State to cause to be published, in pamphlet form, a sufficient number of copies of election laws, and such other provisions of law as bear upon the subject of elections, and to transmit the proper number to each County Clerk, whose duty it is to furnish each election officer in his county with one of such copies." In obedience to the above mandate, I have caused to be prepared what is believed to be a complete compilation of all laws dealing with State, County, City and School District elections found in the Revised Codes of 1921, as amended.
Secretary of State.
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
CONTENTS
Page
Abatement of Smoke Nuisance, Cities and Towns 176
Absent Voters 72
Apportionment and Representation 18-19
Ballots, Preparation and Form 65
Bonding Fire Districts in Unincorporated Cities and Towns 169
Bond Issue and Tax Levy for Bridge Construction 153
Bonds to Cover Drought Relief 150
Bond Issue, Restrained 208
Bridges, Public — Bonds 153
Canvass of Returns — Result — Certificates of Election 95
Cities and Towns:
Classification and Organization of 160
Officers and Elections 162
Initiative and Referendum 165
Indebtedness of — Bonds 171
Abatement of Smoke Nuisance 176
Classification and Organization of Cities and Towns 160
Clerks of Election and Judges 41
Commission Form of Government for Cities 177
Commission-Manager Form of Government for Cities 188
Conducting Elections, Polls. Voting, Challenges 68
Counties, New 136
County Seat, Removal of 129
County Seat, Location of 131
County Bond Elections 154, 157
Constitutional Provisions 7-17
Constitutional Amendments, Publication of Proposed 26
Contesting Elections 102
Consolidation of School Districts 106
Congress, Members of — Elections and Vacancies 101
Conventions, National, Election of Delegates 99
Corrupt Practices 215
Crimes Against Election Franchise 208
Creation of New County by Petition and Election 136
Direct Primary 49
District Judges 207
Disqualifications and Restrictions upon Residence of Officers 25
Duties of County Commissioners, Relative to Elections 147
Elections — Time of Holding 25
Proclamations 25
Precincts 27
Supplies '^2
Returns ^3
Relating to School Matters 102
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 5
Page
Electors, Registration of 28
Presidential, How Chosen .'. 98
Qualification of 205
Extra Taxation for School Purposes 116
Failure of Elections — Procedure on Tie Vote 98
Free Public Libraries 164
Government of Counties 158
High School Code, Elections 122
High School Abolishment County High 124
High School Junior District 126
Indebtedness of Cities and Towns — ^Bonds 171
Initiative and Referendum 20-25
Initiative and Referendum, Cities and Towns 165
Judicial Districts 207
Judicial Officers 206
Judges and Clerks of Election 41
Justices of the Supreme Court 206
Justices of the Peace 208
Location of County Seats 131
Members of Congress — Election and Vacancies 101
Managerial Form of County Govei-nment 159
Municipal Contracts and Franchises 169
Nomination of Candidates for Special Election by Convention or
Primary Meeting or by Electors 45
Officers and Elections, Cities and Towns 162
Precincts, Election 27
Presidential Electors, How Chosen 98
Primary, Direct 49
Proclamations 25
Public Bridges, Bonds 129
Publication of Questions Submitted to Popular Vote 26
Qualifications and Disabilities of Electors 26
Removal of County Seat 129
Referendum and Initiative 20-25
Registration of Electors 28
Returns Election 93
School Districts, Consolidation 106
School Matters, Elections Relating to 102
School Purposes, Extra Taxation for - 116
School District Bonds 118, 122
School District Budget System : 127
Seed Grain Law — Manner of Voting 147
Special Road District Laws 128
Taxation, Extra, for School Purposes 116
Time of Holding Elections 25
Tie Vote, Procedure on 98
Voting by Absent Electors 72
Voting by Absent Electors, Military Service 79
Voting Machines, Conduct of Elections When Used 85
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CONSTITUTION ARTICLE III
A Declaration of KiKhts of the People of the State of Montana
Section 2. The people of the state have the sole and exclusive right of governing- themselves, as a free, sovereign, and independent state, and to alter and abolish their constitution and form of government, whenever they may deem it necessary to their safety and happiness, pro- vided such change be not repugnant to the constitution of the United States.
Section 5. All elections shall be free and open, and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.
ARTICLE V
Legislative Department
Section 1. The legislative authority of the state shall be vested in a legislative assembly, consisting of a senate and house of representatives; but the people reserve to themselves power to propose laws, and to enact or reject the same at the polls, except as to laws relating to appropria- tions of money, and except as to laws for the submission of constitu- tional amendments, and except as to local or special laws, as enumerated in article V, section 26, of this constitution, independent of the legislative assembly; and also reserve power, at their own option, to approve or reject at the polls, any act of the legislative assembly, except as to laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, and except as to laws relating to appropriations of money, and except as to laws for the submission of constitutional amendments, and except as to local or special laws, as enumerated in article V, section 26, of this constitution. The first power reserved by the people is the initiative and eight per cent, of the legal voters of the state shall be required to propose any measure by petition; Provided, That two-fifths of the whole number of the counties of the state must each furnish as signers of said petition eight per cent of the legal voters in such county, and every such petition shall include the full text of the measure so proposed. Initiative petitions shall be filed with the secretary of state, not less than four months before the election at which they are to be voted upon.
The second power is the referendum, and it may be ordered either by petition signed by five per cent of the legal voters of the state, pro- vided that two-fifths of the whole number of the counties of the state must each furnish as signers of said petition five per cent of the legal voters in such county, or, by the legislative assembly as other bills are enacted.
Referendum petitions shall be filed with the secretary of state, not later than six months after the final adjournment of the session of the legislative assembly which passed the bill on which the referendum is demanded. The veto power of the governor shall not extend to measures referred to the people by the legislative assembly or by initiative refer- endum petitions.
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All elections on measures referred to the people of the state shall be had at the biennial regular general election, except when the legislative assembly, by a majority vote, shall oi'der a special election. Any measure referred to the people shall still be in full force and effect unless such petition be signed by fifteen per cent of the legal voters of a majority of the whole number of the counties of the state, in which case the law shall be inoperative until such time as it shall be passed upon at an election, and the result has been determined and declared as provided by law. The whole number of votes cast for governor at the regular election last preceding the filing of any petition for the initiative or referendum shall be the basis on which the number of the legal petitions and orders for the initiative and for the referendum shall be filed with the secretary of state; and in submitting the same to the people, he, and all other officers, shall be guided by the general laws and the act submitting this amendment, until legislation shall be especially provided therefor. The enacting clause of every law originated by the initiative shall be as follows:
"Be it enacted by the people of Montana."
This section shall not be construed to deprive any member of the legislative assembly of the right to introduce any measure.
Section 2. Senators shall be elected for the term of four years, and representatives for the term of two years, except as otherwise provided in this constitution.
Section 3. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-one years, or a senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-four years, and who shall not be a citizen of the United States, and who shall not (for at least twelve months next preceding his election) have resided within the county or district in which he shall be elected.
Section 4. The legislative assembly of this state, until otherwise provided by law, shall consist of sixteen members of the senate, and fifty- five members of the house of representatives.
It shall be the duty of the first legislative assembly to divide the state into senatorial and representative districts, but there shall be no more than one senator from each county. The senators shall be divided into two classes. Those elected from odd-numbered districts shall con- stitute one class, and those elected from even-numbered districts shall constitute the other class; and when any additional senator shall be pro- vided for by law, his class shall be determined by lot.
One-half of the senators elected to the first legislative assembly shall hold office for one year, and the other half for three years; and it shall be determined by lot immediately after the organization of the senate, whether the senators from the odd or even-numbered districts shall hold for one or three years.
Section 26. The legislative assembly shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases, that is to say: For granting divorces; laying out, opening, altering or working roads or highways; vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys or public grounds; locating or changing county seats; regulating county or township affairs;
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regulating the practice in courts of justice; regulating the jurisdiction and duties of justices of the peace, police magistrates or constables; changing the rules of evidence in any trial or inquiry; providing for changes of venue in civil or criminal cases; declaring any person of age; for limitation of civil actions, or giving effect to informal or invalid deeds; summoning or impaneling grand or petit juries; providing for the management of common schools; regulating the rate of interest on money; the opening or conducting of any election or designating the place of voting; the sale or mortgage of real estate belonging to minors or others under disability; chartering or licensing ferries or bridges or toll roads; chartering banks, insurance companies and loan and trust companies; remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures; creating, increasing or decreasing fees, percentages or allowances of public officers; chang- ing the law of descent; granting to any corporation, association or indi- vidual the right to lay down railroad tracks, or any special or exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise whatever; for the punishment of crimes; changing the names of persons or places; for the assessment or collection of taxes; affecting estates of deceased persons, minors or others under legal disabilities; extending the time for the collection of taxes; re- funding money paid into the state treasury; relinquishing or extinguish- ing in whole or in part the indebtedness, liability or obligation of any corporation or person to this state, or to any municipal corporation therein; exempting property from taxation; restoring to citizenship persons convicted of infamous crimes; authorizing the creation, extension or impairing of liens ; creating offices, or prescribing the powers or duties of officers in counties, cities, township or school disti*icts; or authorizing the adoption or legitimation of children. In all other cases where a general law can be made applicable, no special law shall be enacted.
Section 45. When vacancies occur in either house the governor or the person exercising the functions of the governor shall issue writs of election to fill the same.
ARTICLE VI
Apportionment and Representation
Section 1. One representative in the congress of the United States shall be elected from the state at large, the first Tuesday in October, 1889, and thereafter at such times and places, and in such manner as may be prescribed by law. When a new apportionment shall be made by congress the legislative assembly shall divide the state into congres- sional districts accordingly.
Section 2. The legislative assembly shall provide by law for an enumeration of the inhabitants of the state in the year 1895, and every tenth year thereafter; and at the session next following such enumera- tion, and also at the session next following an enumeration made by the authority of the United States, shall revise and adjust the apportionment for representatives on the basis of such enumeration according to ratios to be fixed by law.
Section 3. Representative districts may be altered from time to time as public convenience may require. When a representative district shall be composed of two or more counties, they shall be contiguous, and the
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districts as compact as may be. No county shall be divided in the formation of representative districts.
Section 4. Whenever new counties are created, each of said counties shall be entitled to one senator, but in no case shall a senatorial district consist of more than one county.
ARTICLE VII Executive Department
Section 1. The executive department shall consist of a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, state auditor and superintendent of public instruction, each of whom shall hold his office for four years, or until his successor is elected and qualified, beginning on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, except that the terms of office of those who are elected at the first election, shall begin when the state shall be admitted into the Union, and shall end on the first Monday of January, A. D. ISg^S. The officers of the executive department, excepting the lieutenant-governor, shall during their terms of office reside at the seat of government, where they shall keep the public records, books and papers. They shall perform such duties as are prescribed in this constitution and by the laws of the state. The state treasurer shall not be eligible to his office for the succeeding term.
Section 2. The officers provided for in section 1 of this article, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the state at the time and place of voting for members of the legislative assembly, and the persons respec- tively, having the highest number of votes for the office voted for shall be elected; but if two or more shall have an equal and the highest number of votes for any one of said offices, the two houses of the legis- lative assembly, at its next regular session, shall forthwith by joint ballot, elect one of such persons for said office. The returns of election for the officers named in section 1 shall be made in such manner as may be prescribed by law, and all contested elections of the same, other than provided for in this section, shall be determined as may be prescribed by law.
Section 3. No person shall be eligible to the office of governor, lieutenant-governor, or superintendent of public instruction, unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years at the time of his election, nor to the office of secretary of state, state auditor, or state treasurer, unless he shall have attained the age of twenty-five years, nor to the office of attorney general unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years, and have been admitted to practice in the supreme court of the state, or territory of Montana, and be in good standing at the time of his election. In addition to the qualifications above prescribed, each of the officers named shall be a citizen of the United States, and have re- sided within the state or territory two years next preceding his election.
ARTICLE VIII
Judicial Departments
Section 6. The justices of the supreme court shall be elected by the electors of the state at large, as hereinafter provided.
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Section 7. The term of office of the justices of the supreme court, except as in this constitution otherwise provided, shall be six years.
Section 8. There shall be elected at the first general election, pro- vided for by this constitution, one chief justice and two associate justices of the supreme court. At said first election the chief justice shall be elected to hold his office until the general election in the year one thou- sand eight hundred ninety-two (1892), and one of the associate justices to hold office until the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred ninety-four (1894), and the other associate justice to hold his office until the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred ninety-six (1896), and each shall hold until his successor is elected and qualified. The terms of office of said justices, and which one shall be chief justice, shall at the first and all subsequent elections be designated by ballot. After said first election one chief justice or one associate justice shall be elected at the general election every two years, com- mencing in the year one thousand eight hundred ninety-two (1892), and if the legislative assembly shall increase the number of justices to five, the first terms of office of such additional justices shall be fixed by law in such manner that at least one of the five justices shall be elected every two years. The chief justice shall preside at all sessions of the supreme court, and in case of his absence, the associate justice having the shortest term to serve shall preside in his stead.
Section 9. There shall be a clerk of the supreme court, who shall hold his office for the term of six years, except that the clerk first elected shall hold his office only until the general election in the year one thou- sand eight hundred ninety-two (1892), and until his successor is elected and qualified. He shall be elected by the electors at large of the state, and his compensation shall be fixed by law, and his duties prescribed by law, and by the rules of the supreme court.
Section 10. No person shall be eligible to the office of justice of the supreme court, unless he shall have been admitted to practice law in the supreme court of the territory or state of Montana, be at least thirty years of age, and a citizen of the United States, nor unless he shall have resided in said territory or state at least two years next preceding his election.
District Courts
Section 12. The state shall be divided into judicial districts, in each of which there shall be elected by the electors thereof one judge of the district court, whose term of office shall be four years, except that the district judges first elected shall hold their offices only until the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two (1892), and until their successors are elected and qualified. Any judge of the district court may hold court for any other district judge, and shall do so when required by law.
Section 13. Until otherwise provided by law judicial districts of the state shall be constituted as follows: First district, Lewis and Clark county; Second district. Silver Bow county; Third district, Deer Lodge county; Fourth district, Missoula county; Fifth district, Beaverhead,
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Jefferson and Madison counties; Sixth district, Gallatin, Park and Meagher counties; Seventh district, Yellowstone, Custer and Dawson counties; Eighth district, Choteau, Cascade and Fergus counties.
Section 18. There shall be a clerk of the district court in each county, who shall be elected by the electors of his county. The clerk shall be elected at the same time and for the same term as the district judge. The duties and compensation of the said clerk shall be as provided by law.
County Attorneys Section 19. There shall be elected at the general election in each county of the state one county attorney, whose qualifications shall be the same as are required for a judge of the district court, except that he must be over twenty-one years of age, but need not be twenty-five years of age, and whose term of office shall be two years, except that the county attorneys first elected shall hold their offices until the general election in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two (1892), and until their successors are elected and qualified. He shall have a salary to be fixed by law, one-half of which shall be paid by the state, and the other half by the county for which he is elected, and he shall perform such duties as may be required by law.
Justices of the Peace
Section 20. There shall be elected in each organized township of each county by the electors of such township at least two justices of the peace, who shall hold their offices, except as otherwise provided in this constitution, for the term of two years. Justices' courts shall have such original jurisdiction within their respective counties as may be prescribed by law, except as in this constitution otherwise provided; Provided, That they shall not have jurisdiction in any case where the debt, damage, claim or value of the property involved exceeds the sum of three hundred dollars.
Section 34. Vacancies in the office of justice of the supreme court, or judge of the district court, or clerk of the supreme court, shall be filled by appointment, by the governor of the state, and vacancies in the offices of county attorney, clerk of the district court, and justices of the peace, shall be filled by appointment, by the board of county commissioners of the county where such vacancy occurs. A person appointed to fill any such vacancy shall hold his office until the next general election and until his successor is elected and qualified. A person elected to fill a vacancy shall hold office until the expiration of the term for which the person he succeeds was elected.
ARTICLE IX Rights of Suffrage and Qualifications to Hold Office
Section 1. All elections by the people shall be by ballot.
Section 2. Every person of the age of twenty-one years or over, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all general elections and for all officers that now are, or hereafter may be, elective by the people and upon all questions which may be submitted to the vote of the people: First, he shall be a citizen of the United States; second, he shall have resided in this state one year immediately
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preceding the election at which he offers to vote, and in the town, county or precinct such time as may be prescribed by law; Provided, First that no person convicted of felony shall have the right to vote unless he has been pai-doned; Provided, Second, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to deprive any person of the right to vote who has such right at the time of the adoption of this constitution; Provided, That after the expiration of five years from the time of the adoption of this con- stitution, no person except citizens of the United States shall have the right to vote.
Section 3. For the purpose of voting no person shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while employed in the service of the state, or of the United States, nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of the state, or of the United States, nor while a student at any institution of learning, nor while kept at any almshouse or other asylum at the public expense, nor while con- fined in any public prison.
Section 4. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony or breach of peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections and in going to and returning therefrom.
Section 5. No elector shall be obliged to perform military duty on the days of election, except in time of war or public danger.
Section 6. No soldier, seaman or marine in the army or navy of the United States shall be deemed a resident of this state in consequence of being stationed at any military or naval place within the same.
Section 7. No person shall be elected or appointed to any office in this state, civil or military, who is not a citizen of the United States, and who shall not have resided in this state at least one year next before his election or appointment.
Section 8. No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to vote at any election in this state.
Section 9. The legislative assembly shall have the power to pass a registration and such other laws as may be necessary to secure the purity of elections and guard against abuses of the elective franchise.
Section 10. All persons possessing the qualifications for suffrage prescribed by section 2 of this article as amended and such other qualifi- cations as the legislative assembly may by law prescribe, shall be eligible to hold the office of county superintendent of schools or any other school district office.
Section 11. Any person qualified to vote at general elections and for state officers in this state, shall be eligible to any office therein except as otherwise provided in this constitution, and subject to such additional qualifications as may be prescribed by the legislative assembly for city offices and offices hereafter created.
Section 12. Upon all questions submitted to the vote of the taxpayers of the state, or any political division thereof, women who are taxpayers and possessed of the qualifications for the right of suffrage required of men by this constitution, shall equally with men have the right to vote.
Section 13. In all elections held by the people under this constitution, the person or persons who shall receive the highest number of legal votes shall be declared elected.
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ARTICLE XI
Education
Section 10. The legislative assembly shall provide that all elections for school district officers shall be separate from those elections at which state or county officers are voted for.
ARTICLE XIII Public Indebtedness
Section 5. No county shall be allowed to become indebted in any manner, or for any purpose, to an amount, including existing indebted- ness in the aggregate, exceeding five (5) per centum of the value of the taxable property therein, to be ascertained by the last assessment for state and county taxes previous to the incurring of such indebtedness, and all bonds or obligations in excess of such amount given by or on behalf of such county shall be void. No county shall incur any indebted- ness or liability for any single purpose to an amount exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) without the approval of a majority of the electors thereof, voting at an election to be provided by law.
Section 6. No city, town, township or school district shall be allowed to become indebted in any manner or for any purpose to an amount, in- cluding existing indebtedness, in the aggregate exceeding three (3) per centum of the value of the taxable property therein, to be ascertained by the last assessment for state and county taxes previous to the in- curring of such indebtedness, and all bonds or obligations in excess of such amount given by or on behalf of such city, town, township or school district shall be void; Provided, however. That the legislative assembly may extend the limit mentioned in this section, by authorizing municipal corporations to submit the question to a vote of the taxpayers affected thereby, when such increase is necessary to construct a sewerage system or to procure a supply of water for such municipality which shall own and control said water supply and devote the revenues derived therefrom to the payment of the debt.
ARTICLE XVI Municipal Corporations and Officers
Section 2. The legislative assembly shall have no power to remove the county seat of any county, but the same shall be provided for by general law; and no county seat shall be removed unless a majority of the qualified electors of the county, at a general election on a proposition to remove the county seat, shall vote therefor; but no such proposition shall be submitted oftener than once in four years.
Section 4. In each county there shall be elected three County Com- missioners, whose term of office shall be six years; provided that each county in the State of Montana shall be divided into three Commissioner Districts, to be designated as Commissioner Districts, numbers one, two and three, respectively.
The board of County Commissioners shall in every county in the State of Montana, at their regular session, on the first Monday in May, 1929, or as soon thereafter as convenient or possible, not exceeding sixty days thereafter, meet and by and under the direction of the District
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Court Judge or Judges of said county, divide their respective counties into three Commissioner Districts as compact and equal in population and area as possible, and number them respectively, one, two and three, and when such division has been made, there shall be filed in the office of the County Clerk and Recorder of such county, a certificate designat- ing the metes and bounds of the boundary lines and limits of each of said Commissioners Districts, which certificate shall be signed by said Judge or Judges; provided, also that at the first regular session of any newly organized and created county, the said Board of County Commis- sioners, by and under the direction of the District Court Judge or Judges of said county, shall divide such new county into Commissioner Districts as herein provided.
Upon such division, the Board of County Commissioners shall assign its members to such districts in the following manner; each member of the said Board then in service shall be assigned to the district in which he is residing or the nearest thereto; the senior member of the Board in service to be assigned to the Commissioner District No. 1, the next member in seniority to be assigned to Commissioner District No. 2, and the juliior member of the Board to be assigned to Commissioner District No. 3; provided, that at the fii'st general election of any newly created and organized county, the commissioner for District No. 1, shall be elected for two years, for No. 2, for four years, and for No. 3, for six years, and biennially thereafter there shall be one Commissioner elected to take the place of the retiring Commissioner, who shall hold his office for six years.
That the Board of County Commissioners by and under the direction of the District Court Judge or Judges of said County, for the purpose of equalizing in population and area such Commissioner Districts, may change the boundaries of any or all of the Commissioner Districts in their respective county, by filing in the office of the County Clerk and Recorder of such county, a certificate signed by said Judge or Judges designating by metes and bounds the boundary lines of each . of said Commissioner Districts as changed, and such change in any or all the districts in such county, shall become effective from and after filing of such certificate; provided, however, that the boundaries of no Com- missioner District shall at any time be changed in such a manner as to affect the tei-m of office of any County Commissioner who has been elected, and whose term of office has not expired; and provided, further, that no change in the boundaries of any Commissioner District shall be made within six months next preceding a general election.
At the general election to be held in 1930, and thereafter at each general election, the member or members of the Board to be elected, shall be selected from the residents and electors of the district or dis- tricts in which the vacancy occurs, but the election of such member or members of the Board shall be submitted to the entire electorate of the county, provided, however, that no one shall be elected as a member of said board, who has not resided in said district for at least two years next preceding the time when he shall become a candidate for said office.
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When a vacancy occurs in the Board of County Commissioners the Judge or Judges of the Judicial District in which the vacancy occurs, shall appoint someone residing in such Commissioner District vi^here the vacancy occurs, to fill the office until the next general election when a Commissioner shall be elected to fill the unexpired term.
Section 5. There shall be elected in each county the following of- ficers: One county clerk, who shall be clerk of the board of the county commissioners and ex-officio recorder; one sheriff; one treasurer, who shall be collector of taxes; Provided, That no person shall hold the office of county treasurer for more than two consecutive terms; one county superintendent of schools; one county surveyor; one assessor; one cor- oner; one public administrator. Persons elected to the different offices named in this section shall hold their respective offices for the term of two years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. Vacancies in all county, township and precinct offices, except that of county com- missioners, shall be filled by appointment by the board of county com- missioners, and the appointee shall hold his office until the next genei'al election.
Section 6. The legislative assembly may provide for the election or appointment of such other county, township, precinct and municipal officers as public convenience may require and their terms of office shall be as prescribed by law, not in any case to exceed two years, except as in this constitution otherwise provided.
Section 7. The legislative assembly may, by general or special law, provide any plan, kind, manner or form of municipal government for counties, or counties and cities and towns, or cities and towns, and whenever deemed necessary or advisable, may abolish city or town government and unite, consolidate or merge cities and towns and county under one municipal government, and any limitations in this constitution notwithstanding, may designate the name, fix and prescribe the number, designation, terms, qualifications, method of appointment, election or removal of the officers thereof, define their duties and fix penalties for the violation thereof, and fix and define boundaries of the territory so governed, and may provide for the discontinuance of such form of gov- ernment when deemed advisable; Provided, however, that no form of government permitted in this section shall be adopted or discontinued until after it is submitted to the qualified electors in the territory affect- ed and by them approved.
ARTICLE XIX
Miscellaneous Subjects and Future Amendments
Section 8. The legislative assembly may at any time, by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house, submit to the electors of the state the question whether there shall be a convention to revise, alter, or amend this constitution; and if a majority of those voting on the question shall declare in favor of such convention, the legislative assembly shaU at its next session provide for the calling thereof. The number of members of the convention shall be the same as that of the he use of representatives, and they shall be elected in the same manner, at the same places, and in the same districts. The legislative assembly
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shall in the act calling' the convention designate the day, hour and place of its meeting, fix the pay of its members and officers, and provide for the payment of the same, together with the necessary expenses of the convention. Before proceeding, the members shall take an oath to sup- port the constitution of the United States and of the State of Montana, and to faithfully discharge their duties as members of the convention. The qualifications of members shall be the same as of the members of the senate, and vacancies occurring shall be filled in the manner provided for filling: vacancies in the legislative assembly. Said convention shall meet within three months after such election and prepare such revisions, alterations or amendments to the constitution as may be deemed neces- sary, which shall be submitted to the electors for their ratification or rejection at an election appointed by the convention for that purpose, not less than two nor more than six months after the adjornment thereof; and unless so submitted and approved by a majority of the electors voting at the election, no such revision, alteration or amendment shall take effect.
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REVISED CODES OF MONTANA, 1921, AS AMENDED
APPORTIONMENT AND REPRESENTATION
(Constitutional Provisions Art V and VI — See pages 7-9) Section 44. That after the expiration of the Seventeenth Legislative Assembly of Montana, the membership of the House of Representatives of all Legislative Assemblies of Montana shall be apportioned amongst, and to the several counties of the State, upon and according to the official Federal census enumeration of the inhabitants of the several counties of Montana had, as taken by authority of law in the year 1920, and upon the ratio of one Representative or member, therein from each county, for each six thousand (6,000) persons in such county, or frac- tional part thereof in excess of three thousand (3,000) persons; provided, each county now created, shall be entitled to at least one member.
Section 45. In accordance therewith each county of the State shall be entitled to, and shall elect at each biennial general, state and county election, the number of members of the House of Representatives in the Legislative Assembly of Montana herein below allotted and apportioned to it, and set opposite its name as follows, to-wit:
Beavei'head County One member
Big Horn County One member
Broadwater County One member
Blaine County Two members
Carbon County Three members
Carter County One member
Cascade County Six members
Chouteau County Two members
Custer County Two members
Daniels County One member
Dawson County Two members
Deer Lodge County Three members
Fallon County One member
Fergus County Four members
Flathead County Four members
Gallatin County Three members
Garfield County _ One member
Glacier County One member
Golden Valley County One member
Granite County One member
Hill County Two members
Jefferson County One member
Judith Basin County One member
Lake County One member
Lewis and Clark County Three members
Liberty County One member
Lincoln County One member
Madison County One member
McCone County One member
Meagher County One member
Mineral County One member
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Missoula County Four members
Musselshell County One member
Park County Two members
Petroleum County One member
Phillips County Two members
Pondera County One member
Powder River County One member
Powell County One member
Prairie County One member
Ravalli County Two members
Richland County One member
Rosebud County One member
Roosevelt County Two members
Sanders County One member
Sheridan County Two members
Silver Bow County Ten members
Stillwater County One member
Sweet Grass County One member
Teton County One member
Toole County One member
Treasure County One member
Valley County Two members
Wheatland County One member
Wibaux County One member
Yellowstone County Five members
(Above list brought up to date of issue of this pamphlet.) Section 46. Whenever a new county is created it shall have and be entitled to one member of the House of Representatives until otherwise apportioned.
Section 47. Whenever a new county is created, it shall be attached to and become a part of the Representative district, embracing the county from which the largest ai'ea included in the new county has been taken.
Section 48. That all that portion of the State of Montana lying west of the east boundary of Flathead, Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, and Gallatin counties, to-wit: the counties of Lincoln, Sanders, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli, Beaverhead, Madison, Silver Bow, Jefferson, Deer Lodge, Granite, Powell, Flathead, Gallatin, Lewis and Clark, and Broad- water shall constitute the First Congressional district of the State; and that all that portion of the State of Montana lying east of the east boundary of Flathead, Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, and Gallatin counties, to-wit: the counties of Hill, Blaine, Phillips, Valley, Sheridan, Dawson, Wibaux, Prairie, Richland, Fergus, Chouteau, Cascade, Meagher, Musselshell, Rosebud, Custer, Fallon, Big Horn, . Carbon, Yellowstone, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Park, Toole, and Teton shall constitute the Second Congressional district of the State.
Whenever any county is created, comprised partly of the territory of both such districts, said county shall belong to and become a part of the district to which major portion of the territory of said county belonged and was a part prior to the creation of such new county.
20 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
(Constitutional Provisions Art V, Sec. 1 — Page 7) Section 99. The following shall be substantially the form of petition for the Referendum to the people on any act passed by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Montana:
Warning
Any person signing any name other than his own to this petition, or signing the same more than once for the same measure at one election, or who is not, at the time of signing the same, a legal voter of this State, is punishable by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500), or imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Petition for Referendum
To the Honorable , Secretary of State for the
State of Montana: We, the undersigned citizens and legal voters of the State of Montana,
respectfully order that Senate (House) Bill Number , entitled
(title of act), passed by the Legislative Assembly
of the State of Montana, at the regular (special) session of said Legis- lative Assembly, shall be referred to the people of the State for their approval or rejection, at the regular, general, or special election to be
held on the day of , 19 ,
and each for himself says: I have personally signed this petition; I am a legal voter of the State of Montana; and my residence, postoffice address, and voting precinct are correctly written after my name.
Name Residence
Postoffice address
If in city, street and number
Voting precinct
(Here follow numbered lines for signatures.)
Section 100. The following shall be substantially the form of pfetition for any law of the State of Montana proposed by the Initiative:
Warning
Any person signing any name other than his own to this petition, or signing the same more than once for the same measure at one elec- tion, or who is not, at the time of signing the same, a legal voter of this State, is punishable by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500), or imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 21
Petition for Initiative
To the Honorable , Secretary of State of the
State of Montana: We, the undersigned legal voters of the State of Montana, respectfully demand that the following proposed law shall be submitted to the legal electors of the State of Montana, for their approval or rejection, at
the regular, general or special election to be held on the
day of , 19 , and each for himself says:
I have personally signed this petition and my residence, postoffice address, and voting precinct are correctly written after my name.
Name Residence
Postoffice address
If in city, street and number
Voting precinct
(Numbered lines for names on each sheet.)
Every such sheet for petitioners' signature shall be attached to a full and correct copy of the title and text of the measure so proposed by initiative petition; but such petition may be filed with the Secretary of State in numbered sections, for convenience in handling, and referen- dum petitions may be filed in sections in like manner.
Section 101. The county clerk of each county in which any such peti- tions shall be signed shall compare the signatures of the electors sign- ing the same with their signatures on the registration books and blanks on file in his office, for the preceding general election, and shall there- upon attach to the sheets of said petition containing such signatures his certificate to the Secretary of State, substantially as follows:
State of Montana, County of ss.
To the Honorable , Secretary of State
for Montana:
I, , County Clerk of the County of
...., hereby certify that I have com- pared the signatures on (number of sheets) of the Referendum (Initia- tive) petition, attached hereto, with the signatures of said electors as they appear on the registration books and blanks in my office; and I believe that the signatures of (names of signers), numbering (number of genuine signatures), are genuine. As to the remainder of the signa- tures thereon, I believe that they are not genuine, for the reason that
; and I further certify
that the following names
( ) do not appear on the registration books
and blanks in my office.
(Signed:)
(Seal of Office) County Clerk.
By ,
Deputy
22 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
Every such certificate shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein, and of the qualifications of the electors whose signatures are thus certified to be genuine, and the Secretary of State shall consider and count only such signatures on such petitions as shall be so certified by said County Clerks to be genuine; provided, that the Secretary of State may consider and count such of the remaining signatures as may be proved to be genuine, and that the parties so signing were legally qualified to sign such petitions, and the official certificate of a Notary Public of the county in which the signer resides shall be required as to the fact for each of such last named signatures; and the Secretary of State shall further compare and verify the official signatures and seals of all Notaries so certifying with their signatures and seals filed in his office. Such Notaries' certificates shall be substantially in the following form :
State of Montana, County of ss.
I, - , a duly qualified and acting
Notary Public in and for the above-named county and State, do hereby certify: that I am personally acquainted with each of the following named electors whose signatures are affixed to the annexed petition, and I know of my own knowledge that they are legal voters of the State of Montana, and of the county and precincts written after their several names in the annexed petition, and that their residence and postoffice address is correctly stated therein, to-wit: (Names of such electors.)
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and official seal
this day of , 19
Notary Public, in and for County, State
of Montana.
The County Clerk shall not retain in his possession any such petition, or any part thereof, for a longer period than two days for the first two hundred signatures thereon, and one additional day for each two hundred additional signatures, or fraction thereof, on the sheets present- ed to him, and at the expiration of such time he shall forward the same to the Secretary of State, with his certificate attached thereto, as above provided. The forms herein given are not mandatory, and if substantially followed in any petition, it shall be sufficient, disregarding clerical and merely technical errors.
Section 102. Immediately upon the filing of any such petition for the Referendum or the Initiative with the Secretary of State, signed by the number of voters and filed within the time required by the consti- tution, he shall notify the governor in writing of the filing of such petition, and the governor shall forthwith issue his proclamation, an- nouncing that such petition has been filed, with a brief statement of its tenor and effect. Said proclamation shall be published four times for four consecutive weeks in one daily or weekly paper in each county of the State of Montana.
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Section 103. The Secretary of State, at the same time that he fur- nishes to the county clerk of the several counties certified copies of the names of the candidates for office, shall also furnish the said county clerks his certified copy of the titles and numbers of the various measures to be voted upon at the ensuing general or special election, and he shall use for each measure a title designated for that purpose by the legislative assembly, committee, or oi'ganization presenting and filing with h'.m the act, or petition for the initiative or the referendum, or in the petition or act; provided, that such title shall in no case exceed one hundred words, and shall not resemble any such title previously filed for any measure to be submitted at that election which shall be descriptive of said measure, and he shall number such measures. All measures shall be numbered with consecutive numbers beginning with the number immediately following that on the last measure filed in the office of the Secretary of State. The affirmative and negative of each measure shall bear the same number, and no two measures shall be numbered alike. It shall be the duty of the several county clerks to print said titles and numbers on the official ballot prescribed by section 678 of the Revised Codes of Montana 1921, in the numerical order in which the measures have been certified to them by the Secretary of State. Measures pro- posed by the initiative shall be designated and distinguished from meas- ures proposed by the Legislative Assembly by the heading "Proposed Petition for Initiative."
All constitutional amendments submitted to the qualified electors of the State shall likewise be placed upon the official ballot prescribed by said section 678 and no such amendment shall hereafter be submitted on a separate ballot. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to change the existing laws of the State regulating in other respects the manner of submitting such proposed amendments.
As amended by Chapter 52, Laws of 1927.
Section 104. The manner of voting on measures submitted to the people shall be by marking the ballot with a cross in or on the diagram opposite and to the left of the proposition for which the voter desires to vote. The following is a sample ballot representing negative vote:
D D
For Initiative Measure No. 6 Relating to Duties of Sheriffs.
Against said Measure No. 6.
For Referendum Measure No. 7 Relating to Purchase of Insane Asylum.
Against said Measure No. 7.
And no title on a ballot shall contain more than ten words, which shall be descriptive of the measure proposed.
24 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
Section 105. The Secretary of State shall furnish a copy of each of the proposed measures to be submitted to the people to, and make requisition on, the State Purchasing Agent for the printing, and delivery to him of all proposed initiative and referendum measures to be submitted to a vote of the people.
The State Purchasing Agent, shall, not later than the first Monday of the third month next before any general or special election, at which any proposed law is to be submitted to the people, cause to be printed a true copy of the title and text of each measure to be submitted, with the number and form in which the question will be printed on a separate official ballot. It shall be the duty of the State Purchasing Agent to call for bids, and contract with the lowest responsible bidder for the printing of the proposed law to be submitted to the people.
The proposed law to be submitted shall be printed in news type, each page to be six inches wide by nine inches long, and when such proposed measure constitutes less than six pages, it shall be printed flat and for- warded to the County Clerk and Recorder of each of the several counties in that form.
When the proposed measure constitutes more than six pages, said measui-e shall be printed in pamphlet form, securely stapled, without cover. No proposed measure, hereafter, to be submitted to the people of the State, as provided for in this section shall be bound. The quality of the paper to be used for the proposed measure shall be left to discre- tion of the State Purchasing Agent. The number of said proposed measures to be printed shall be five per cent (5%) more than the number of registered voters, as shown by the registration lists of the several counties of the State at the last preceding general election.
The Secretary of State shall distribute to each County Clerk before the second Monday in the third month next preceding such regular gen- eral election, a sufficient number of said pamphlet to furnish one copy to every voter in his coufity. And each County Clerk shall be required to mail to each registered voter in each of the several counties in the State at least one copy of the same within thirty (30) days from the date of his receipt of the same from the Secretary of State. The mailing of said pamphlets to electors shall be a part of the official duty of the County Clerk of each of the several counties, and his official compensa- tion shall be full compensation for this additional service.
As amended by Chapter 137, Laws of 1927.
Section 106. The votes on measures and questions shall be counted, canvassed and returned by the regular boards of judges, clerks, and officers as votes for candidates are counted, canvassed, and returned, and the abstract made by the several County Clerks of votes on measures shall be returned to the Secretary of State on separate abstract sheets in the manner provided by sections 801 and 802 of this code for ab- stracts of votes for State officers. It shall be the duty of the State Board of Canvassers to proceed within thirty days after the election, and sooner if the returns be all received, to canvass the votes given for each measure, and the governor shall forthwith issue his proclamation, which shall be published in two daily newspapers printed at the capital,
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 25
giving: the whole number of votes cast in the State for and against each measure and question, and declaring such measures as are ap- proved by a majority of those voting thereon to be in full force and effect as the law of the State of Montana from the date of said procla- mation, designating such measures by their titles.
Section 107. Every person who is a qualified elector of the State of Montana may sign a petition for the Referendum or for the Initiative. Any person signing any name other than his own to such petition, or signing the same more than once for the same measure at one election, or who is not, at the time of signing the same, a legal voter of this State, or any officer or any person wilfully violating any provision of this statute, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars, or by imprisonment in the penitentiai-y not exceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court before which such conviction shall be had.
Section 108. A bill passed by the Legislative Assembly and referred to popular vote at the next general election, or at a special election, shall not be in effect until it is approved at such general or special election by a majority of those voting for and against it.
(Note — See also title, "Initiative and Referendum in Government of Cities and Towns.")
DISQUALIFICATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS UPON RESIDENCE OF OFFICERS
Section 410. No person is capable of holding a civil office in this State, who at the time of his election or appointment is not of the age of twenty-one years and a citizen of this State.
TIME OF HOLDING ELECTIONS
Section 531. There must be held throughout the State, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and in every second year thereafter, an election to be known as the general election.
Section 532. Special elections are such as are held to supply vacan- cies in any office, and are held at such times as may be designated by the proper officer or authority. The Board of County Commissioners shall be authorized to call a special election at any time for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electoi's of the county a proposition to raise money for any public improvement desired to be made in the county.
ELECTION PROCLAMATIONS
Section .533. At least sixty days before a general election, and whenever he orders a special election to fill a vacancy in the office of State Senator or member of the House of Representatives, at least ten days before such special election, the governor must issue an election proclamation, under his hand and the great seal of the State, and transmit copies thereof to the Boards of Commissioners of the counties in which such elections are to be held.
Section 534. Such proclamation must contain:
1. A statement of the time of election, and the offices to be filled.
26 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
2. An offer of rewards, in the following form: "And I do hereby offer a reward of one hundred dollars for the arrest and conviction of any person violating any of the provisions of sections 10747 to 10772 of the Penal Code. Such rewards to be paid until the total amount here- after expended for the purpose reaches the sum of five thousand dollars."
Section 535. The Board of County Commissioners, upon the receipt of such proclamation, may, in the case of general or special elections, cause a copy of the same to be published in some newspaper printed in the county, if any, and to be posted at each place of election at least ten days before the election; and in case of special elections to fill a vacancy in the office of State Senator or member of the House of Repre- sentatives, the Board of County Commissioners, upon receipt of such proclamation, may in their discretion, cause a copy of the same to be published or posted as hereinbefore provided, except that such publica- tion or posting need not be made for a longer period than five days before such election.
Section 536. Whenever a special election is ordered by the Board of County Commissioners, they must issue an election proclamation, containing the statement provided for in subdivision 1 of section 534, and must publish and post it in the same manner as proclamations issued by the governor.
PUBLICATION OF QUESTIONS SUBMITTED TO POPULAR VOTE
Section 538. Questions to be submitted to the people of the county or municipality must be advertised by publication in at least one news- paper within the county or municipality, once a week for two successive weeks, and one of such publications in such newspaper must be upon the last day upon which such newspaper is issued before the election.
QUALIFICATIONS AND DISABILITIES OF ELECTORS
Section 539. All elections by the people shall be by ballot.
Section 540. Every person of the age of twenty-one years or over, possessing the following qualifications, if his name is registered as re- quired by law, is entitled to vote at all general and special elections and for all officers that now are, or hereafter may be, elective by the people, and upon all questions which may be submitted to the vote of the people: First, he must be a citizen of the United States; second, he must have resided in the State one year and in the county thirty days im- mediately preceding the election at which he offers to vote. No person convicted of felony has the right to vote unless he has been pardoned. Nothing in this section contained shall be construed to deprive any person of the right to vote who had such right at the time of the adop- tion of the State constitution. After the expiration of five years from the time of the adoption of the State constitution, no persons except citizens of the United States have a right to vote.
Section 541. Electors must in all cases, except treason, felony, or bzeach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at elections, and in going to and returning therefrom.
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 27
Section 542. No elector is required to perform military duty on the days of election, except in times of war or public danger.
Section 543. No idiot or insane person is entitled to vote at any election in this State.
Section 544. The payment of a tax upon property by any person assessed therefor on a county or city assessment roll next preceding the election at which a question is to be submitted to the vote of the taxpayers of the State, or to the vote of the taxpayers of such county or city, or any subdivision thereof, constitutes such person a taxpayer at such election.
ELECTION PRECINCTS
Section 545. The territorial unit for the conduct of elections shall be the election precinct. The Board of County Commissioners of each county shall establish a convenient number of election precincts therein having reference to equalizing the number of electors in the several precincts as nearly as possible. Precinct boundaries shall conform to the wards of incorporated cities of the first, second and third class and to the boun- daries of school districts of the first class only, provided that any ward or school district may be divided into two or more precincts and any precinct may be divided into two or more polling places. In towns, or municipal corporations other than the cities of the first, second and third class, election precincts may, however, include two or more wards, or may comprise the territory included by one or more wards, together with contiguous territory lying outside the said incorporated towns.
As amended by Chapter 25, Laws of 1929.
Section 546. The Board of County Commissioners may change the boundaries of precincts and create new or consolidate established pre- cincts, but no precinct shall be changed or created between the first day of January and the first day of December in any year during which a general election is to be held within the State of Montana. All changes, alterations, or modifications in precinct boundaries must be certified to the County Clerk within three days after the order making same shall have been made. All election precincts shall be designated by numbers but may also be designated by distinctive names in addition to such numbers.
Section 547. The city council of all incorporated cities and towns within the State of Montana shall certify to the County Clerk and ex-officio Registrar of the county within which such city or town is situated, a description of the boundaries of the several wards within such city or town, and in like manner shall cei'tify any changes or alterations in such boundaries that may from time to time be made, within ten days after the same are made.
Section 548. The County Surveyor of each county must, within ten days after the Board of County Commissioners shall have established or changed the boundaries of any election precincts within such county, deliver to the County Clerk of the county a map correctly showing the boundaries of all precincts and school districts within the county as then existing.
28 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
Section 549. The city council of any incoi-porated city or town shall, withfh ten days after the ward lines of such city or town shall have been established or changed, deliver or cause to be delivered to the County Clerk of said county a map correctly showing the boundaries of the wards within such city or town as then existing; such map shall also show all streets, avenues, and alleys by name, and the respective wards by numbers, with the ward boundaries clearly defined thereon.
Section 550. The board must, at the session at which judges of elec- tion are appointed, make an order designating the house or place within the precinct where the election must be held.
Section 551. If the board fails to designate the house or place for holding the election, or if it cannot be held at the house or place desig- nated, the judges of election, or a majority of those acting as such in the precinct must, two days before the election and by order, under their hand (copies of which they must at once post in three public places in the precinct), designate the house or place.
Section 552. No officer of this State, nor of any county shall estab- lish a voting precinct within or at the premises of any Indian agency or trading post.
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS
Section 553. The County Clerk of each county of the State of Mon- tana is hereby declared to be ex-officio County Registrar of such county and shall perform all acts and duties in this Act provided without extra pay or compensation therefor. He shall have the custody of all registra- tion books, cards, and papers herein provided for, and the register here- inafter provided for to be kept by said County Clerk is hereby declared to be an official record of the office of the County Clerk of each county.
Section 554. The official register of electors in each county shall be contained in a book designated "register," which book shall be so ar- ranged in precincts and alphabetical divisions suitable to record the full and complete information given by each elector, and a card index of which the County Clerk of such county shall at all times have the custody. The cards shall be four by six inches in size, of white calendar stock, and shall be so perforated that all cards in any drawer may be fastened in by a rod passing through such perforations, which rod shall be kept locked except when the clerk shall be making necessary changes in the register. The registry book herein provided shall be in such form as shall be designated by the Secretary of State of the State of Montana. The registry card shall be substantially in the following form:
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 29
(FACE) STATE OF MONTANA, ^
County of J
Number Date Name Sex
Where born Age Height Occupation
Ft.-In.
Naturalized when Where
Residence Post Office Sec. Twp. Rg.
Length of time in Precinct Ward School Dist.
State County City
Date cancelled Date registered Disability, if any Place where last registered
STATE OF MONTANA, ^
^ « rss.
County of j
, being duly sworn says:
I am the elector whose name appears on the face of this card; the several statements thereon contained affecting my qualifications as an elector are true; I am able to mark my ballot (or I am unable to mark my ballot by reason of the physical disabilities on this card specified), and I am not registered elsewhere within the State of Montana and claim no right to vote elsewhere than in the precinct on this card specified, so help me God.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of
., 19.
County Clerk and Ex-Officio Registrar.
By Deputy.
30 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
(BACK)
AFFIDAVIT OF LOST NATURALIZATION PAPERS
STATE OF MONTANA, ^
rss. County of j
, being duly sworn on
oath, says:
I am the elector named on the face of this card; I am a naturalized citizen of the United States; my certificate of naturalization is lost or destroyed, or beyond my present reach, and I have no certified copy
thereof; I came to the United States in the year ; I was
admitted to citizenship in the state (or territory) of
county of , by the court
during the year ; I last saw my certificate of naturalization,
or a certified copy thereof, at
Subscribed and sworn to before me this
day of , 19
County Clerk and Ex-Officio Registrar.
By Deputy.
Section 555. Any elector residing within the county may register by appearing before the County Clerk and Ex-Officio Registrar and making connect answers to all questions propounded by the County Clerk touching the items of inform.ation called for by such registry card, and by signing and verifying the affidavit or affidavits on the back of such card.
Section 556. If any elector resides more than ten miles distant from the office of the County Clerk, he may register before the deputy regis- trar within the precinct where such elector resides. If by reason of physical infirmity the elector is unable to appear before the County Clerk or any deputy registrar, he may send written notice to the County Clerk or to the deputy registrar of such disability, with the request that his registration be made at his residence. Upon receipt of such notice and request it shall be the duty of the County Clerk or deputy registrar, as the case may be, to make the registration of such elector at his residence; provided, that no greater sum than twenty-five cents may be charged or received by any officer or person for taking the registration of the elector herein provided for; and provided further, that no officer or person shall be entitled to receive from any county in the State of Montana any charge for expenses incurred by reason of the provisions of this section.
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 31
Section 557. All Notaries Public and Justices of the Peace are desig- nated as deputy registrars in the county in which they reside, and may register electors residing more than ten miles from the county court house in -any precinct within the county. The County Commissionei-s shall appoint a deputy registrar, other than Notaries Public and Justices of the Peace, for each precinct in the county. Such deputy registrar shall be a resident elector in the precinct for which he is appointed and shall register electors in that precinct, and shall receive as compensation for his services the sum of twenty-five cents for each elector registered by him. Each deputy registrar shall forward by mail, within two days, all registration cards filled out by him to the County Clerk and Recorder.
Section 558. The office of the County Clerk shall be open for regis- tration of voters between the hours of nine a. m. and five p. m. on all days except legal holidays. Registry cards shall be numbered consecu- tively in the order of their receipt at the office of the County Clerk; provided, however, that electors who are registered upon the registry books in use in any county prior to the passage and approval of this law shall retain upon their registry cards the same number as they have severally had upon such books; and provided also that such electors need not again appear at the office of the County Clerk to register, but the County Clerk is hereby authorized to fill out from such registry books registry cards for all electors entitled to vote at the time of the passage and approval of this law, transcribing from such books the data called for by such cards. The cards so filled out from the registry books shall be marked "transcribed" by the County Clerk, and shall constitute part of the official register, and shall entitle the elector represented by each such card to vote in the same manner as if the card had been filled out, signed and verified by such elector. The County Clei-k shall classify register cards according to the precincts in which the several electors reside, and shall arrange the cards in each precinct in alpha- betical order. The cards for each precinct shall be kept in a separate filing case or drawer which shall be marked with the number of the precinct. The County Clerk shall, immediately after filling out the card index or registry cards as herein provided, enter upon the official register of the county in the proper precinct the full information given by said elector.
Section 559. If any applicant for registration applies to be regis- tered who has not resided within the State of Montana, or the county or city for the required length of time, and who shall be entitled to and is qualified to register on or before the day of election, provided he answers the question of the County Clerk in a satisfactory manner, and it is made to appear to the County Clerk that he will be entitled to become a qualified elector by the date upon which the election is to be held, the County Clerk shall accept such registration. If any person applies to be registered who is not a citizen of the United States, but states that he will be qualified to be registered as a citizen of the United States before the date upon which the election is to be held, the County Clerk shall accept such registration, but shall place opposite the name of such person the words, "to be challenged for want of naturalization papers,"
32 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
and such person shall not be entitled to vote unless he exhibits to the judges of election his final naturalization papers.
Section 560. Every elector, on changing his residence from one pre- cinct to another within the same county, may cause his registry card to be transferred to the register of the precinct of his new residence, by a request in writing to the County Clerk of such county, in the follow- ing form:
I, the undersigned, elector, having changed my residence from Precinct
No to Pi-ecinct No in the County of
, State of Montana, herewith make application
to have my registry card transferred to the precinct register of the pre- cinct of my present residence. My registration number is
Dated at , on the day of
, 19
Whenever it shall be more convenient for any elector residing outside of an incorporated city or town to vote in another precinct in the same political township in the county, such elector may cause his registry card to be transferred fi'om the precinct of his residence to such other precinct, by filing in the office of the County Clerk of such county, at least thirty days prior to any election, a request in writing in the following form:
I, the undersigned elector, herewith make application to have my
registry card transferred from Precinct No to the register of
Precinct No , in the county of , State of
Montana. The reason why it is more convenient for me to vote in said
Precinct No is that
Dated at , on the day of
, 19
The County Clerk shall compare the signature of the elector upon such request in either case, with the signature upon the registry card of the elector as indicated, and may question the elector as to any of the information contained upon such registry card, and if the County Clerk is satisfied concerning the identity of the elector and his right to have such transfer made, he shall endorse upon the registry card of such elector the date of the transfer and the precinct to which trans- ferred, and shall file said card in the register of the precinct of the elector's present residence, or of the precinct to which he has requested that his registry card be transferred, and the County Clerk shall in each case make a transfer of the elector's name, together with all data connected therewith, to the proper precinct in the register.
Section 561. If any elector registered as such in any county shall change his residence to another county in the State of Montana, he shall make and file with the County Clerk of the latter county the following affidavit in duplicate, to-wit:
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 33
STATE OF MONTANA, "I
,- ss. County of J
I, the undersigned elector, being duly sworn on oath say:
I have heretofore registered as an elector in the State of Montana,
County of , Precinct No , but
on the day of , 19 , I
moved my residence to the County of in
said State, and now reside at Section Township
Range Precinct No ; I occupy
Room No of the Building,
floor; I was born in and was naturalized as
a citizen of the United States in My height is
ft in. I request that I be registered to conform to my
present address.
Elector.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of
, 19
Said affidavit may be sworn to before any officer authorized to ad- minister oaths within the State of Montana. Upon filing such affidavit in duplicate with the County Clei'k, such elector shall fill out a registry card as herein provided for the original registration of voters, and he shall thereupon be entitled to all of the rights of an elector in the pre- cinct of his present residence, and such registry card shall be filed in the official registry of such precinct in the same manner as an original registry card.
Upon receiving the duplicate affidavits above referred to the County Clerk shall file one in his own office, and shall within two days there- after transmit the other to the County Clerk of the county wherein said elector was previously registered. Upon the receipt of such duplicate affidavit by the County Clerk of such other county, he shall transfer the registry card of the elector named in such affidavit to the cancelled file of said county. Upon receiving the duplicate affidavit referred to in this section, the County Clerk shall cancel the name of such elector in the register herein provided for, by drawing a line through said entry in red ink and by endorsing thereon the cause of said cancellation.
Section 562. Immediately after evex-y general election, the County Clerk of each county shall compare the list of electors who have voted at such election in each precinct, as shown by the official poll-book, with the official register of said precinct, and he shall remove from the official register herein provided for the registry cards of all electors who have failed to vote at such election, and shall mark each of said cards
34 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
with the word "Cancelled," and shall place such cancelled cards for the •entire county in alphabetical order in a separate drawer to be known as the "cancelled file;" but any elector whose card is thus removed from the official register may re-register in the same manner as his original registration was made, and the registration card of any elector who thus re-registers shall be filed by the County Clerk in the official register in the same manner as original registration cards are filed. The County Clei'k shall at the same time cancel, by drawing a red line through the entry thereof, the name of all such electors who have failed to vote at such election.
Section 563. Every citizen of the State of Montana who was engaged in the active military or naval services of the United States during the late war, and was duly registered and entitled to vote at the last general election, and by reason of such sei'vice was unable to vote at such elec- tion, shall not be considered to have lost any rights by reason thereof, and the provisions of the preceding section shall not apply.
Section 564. The County Clerk shall, within ten days after the pas- sage and approval of this Act, withdraw from the "cancelled file" the registration cards of all persons subject to the provisions of this Act, and place such cards in the active precinct registration files, and enter the names of such persons upon the proper registration rolls.
Section 565. Any person subject to the provisions of this Act, whose name does not appear upon the register of voters for the precinct in which such person resides, shall be entitled to vote at any election upon filing with the judges of election an affidavit, showing that he is a citizen of the State of Montana and was duly registered as an elector for the general election in 1918, and that by reason of service in the military or naval service of the United States he was unable to vote at such election. Upon the filing of such affidavit said judges shall enter the name of such person upon the register of voters for such precinct and forward to the County Clerk the affidavit so made. The County Clerk shall immediately withdraw the registration card of such person from the "cancelled file," and place the same in the proper precinct file.
Section 566. The County Clerk shall close all registration for the full period of forty-five days prior to and before any election. He shall immediately transmit to the Secretary of State a certificate showing the number of voters registered in each precinct in said county. The County Clerk of each county must cause to be published in a newspaper within his county, having a general circulation therein, for thirty days before which time when such registration shall be closed for any elec- tion, a notice signed by him to the effect that such registration will be closed on the day provided by law, and which day shall be specified in such notice; and must also state that electors may register for the en- suing election by appearing before the County Clerk at his office, or by appearing before a deputy registi'ar or before any Notary Public or Justice of the Peace in the manner provided by law. The publication of such notice must continue for the full period of thirty days. At least thirty days before the time when the official register is closed for any election, the County Clerk shall cause to be posted, in at least five
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 35
conspicuous places in each voting precinct at such election, notice of the time when the official register will close for such election.
Section 567. The County Clerk shall, at least thirty days preceding any election, cause to be printed and posted a list of all elctors entitled to be registered, as shown by the official register of the county, and who are on the precinct registers as entitled to vote in the several pre- cincts of such county, city or town, or school district of the first class. Such printed list of registered electors shall contain the name of the elector in full, together with his residence, giving the number and street, or the name of the house, or the section, township and range, as shown by the official register card of the elector, and the registry number. The expense of printing said list shall be paid by said county, city or town, or school district in which the election is to be held. The County Clerk shall cause to be posted, not less than thirty days before any such elec- tion, as in this Act provided for, at least five copies of such printed registry list in at least five conspicuous places within the said precinct, a copy of the list of registered voters herein pi'ovided for, and shall retain sufficient number of said printed lists of registered voters in his office as may be necessary for the convenience of the public. He shall furnish to any qualified elector of any county, city or town or school district applying therefor a copy of the same provided that where the list herein provided for has been printed and posted for any primary election, the same may be used for the election proper following by posting in connection therewith at the time provided for in this section a supplemental list giving the names of electors who may have registered after the first list was prepared.
Section 568. During the time intervening between the closing of the official register and the day of the ensuing election, the County Clerk shall prepare for each precinct a book to be known as the "poll-book," which shall be for the use of the clerks and judges of election in each such precinct. Such books shall be arranged for the listing of the names of the electors in alphabetical divisions, each division to be composed of ruled columns with appropriate headings, under which the information contained upon the registry card of each elector shall be transci-ibed, excepting the oath of the elector, and the certified copy of the poll-books so prepared shall be delivered to the judges of the election at or prior to the opening of the polls in each precinct. Where the precincts in mu- nicipal elections, or in elections in school districts of the first class, include more than one county precinct, the County Clerk shall combine into one poll-book the names of all electors in the several precinct registers of the precincts of which such municipal or school district precinct is composed. The County Clerk shall omit from the list of names of all certified voters so inserted in the poll-book herein provided for, the names and registry of all electors which it is the duty of the County Clerk to cancel under the provisions of Section 570, provided that the requirements contained in the provisions of said section shall have been brought to the attention of the County Clerk not less than twenty days preceding the election.
36 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
Section 569. Whenever the period during which the official registry is closed preceding any election shall occur during the time within which any elector is entitled to register for another election, such elector shall be permitted to register for such other election, but the County Clerk shall retain his registi'y card in a separate file until the official register is again open for filing of cards, at which time all cards in such temporary file shall be placed in their proper position in the official register.
Section 570. The County Clerk must cancel any registry card in the following cases:
1. At the request of the party registered.
2. When he has personal knowledge of the death or removal from the county of the person registered, or when duly authenticated certifi- cate of the death of any elector is filed in his office.
3. When there is presented and filed with the County Clerk the separate affidavit of three qualified registered electors residing within the precinct, which affidavit shall give the name of such elector, his registry number, and his residence, and which affidavit shall show that of the personal knowledge of the affiant, that any person registered does not reside or has removed from the place designated as the resi- dence of such elector.
4. When the insanity of the elector is legally established.
5. Upon the production of a certified copy of a final judgment of conviction of any elector of felony.
6. Upon the production of a certified copy of the judgment of any court directing the cancellation to be made.
Section 571. The County Clerk shall receive, for the use and benefit of the county, from every city or town, or from every school district of the first class, to which the poll-books referred to in the last section have been furnished, the sum of five cents for each and every name entered in such poll-books, and in addition he shall receive in like man- ner the amount of the actual expense incurred in printing and posting the lists of electors, and in publishing the notices required by this law, and any other expense incurred on account of any such municipal or school district election. It shall be the duty of the city or town council, or board of school trustees, to order a warrant drawn for such sum as may be due to the County Clerk under the provisions of this section, within thirty days after the presentation of the account to them by said County Clerk.
Section 572. The County Clerk shall furnish to any person or per- sons who in writing may so request, a copy of the official precinct registers of any county, city or school district precinct, and upon delivery thereof shall charge and collect for the use and benefit of the county the sum of five cents for each and every name entered in such official pre- cinct register.
Section 573. At any time not later than the tenth day prior to any election, a challenge may be filed with the County Clerk, signed by a qualified elector in writing, and duly verified by the affidavit of the elector, that the elector designated therein is not entitled to register.
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 37
Such affidavit shall state the grounds of challenge, objection and dis- qualification. The County Clerk shall file the affidavit of challenge in his office as a record thereof. The County Clerk must deliver a true and correct copy of any and all of such affidavits so filed, challenging the right of any elector to vote who has been so registered at the same time, and together with the copy of the precinct registers and check lists, and other papers required by this Act to be delivered to the judges of election, as in this Act provided, and he must write distinctly opposite to the name of any person to whose qualification as an elector objections may be thus made, the words "To be challenged." It shall be the duty of the judges of election, if on election day such person who has been objected to and challenged applies to vote, to test, under oath, his quali- fications. Notwithstanding the elector is registered, his right to vote may be challenged on the day of election by any qualified registered elector, orally stating, to the judges of election, the grounds of such objection or challenge to the right of any registered elector to vote.
It is the duty of the judges of election, when it appears that any elector offers to vote and is either challenged by a duly qualified reg- istered elector, on election day, or if an affidavit of objection to the right of such elector to vote has been filed with the County Clerk and the copy of the precinct registers furnished to the judges of election have endorsed thereon, opposite to the name of such elector, "to be challenged," to test the qualifications of the elector and ask any ques- tions that such judges may deem proper, and shall compare the answers of the elector to such questions with the entries in the precinct register books, and if it be found that said elector is disqualified, or that the answers given by such elector to the questions propounded by the judges do not correspond to the entry in the precinct registers, or that said elector is disqualified from any cause under the law, or if he refuses to take an oath as to his qualifications, he shall not be permitted to vote. The judges of election, in their discretion, may require such elector to produce before them one or more freeholders of the county, as they may deem necessary, and have them examined under oath as to the qualifica- tions of the elector.
Section 574. For the purpose of registration or voting, the place of residence of any person must be governed by the following rules as far as they are applicable:
1. That place must be considered and held to be the residence of a person in which his habitation is fixed, and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning.
2. A person must not be held to have gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while employed in the service of the United States, or of this State, nor while a student at any institution of learning, nor while kept at any alms-house or other asylum at the public expense, nor while confined in any public prison, nor while residing on any military reservation.
3. No soldier, seaman, or marine in the army or navy of the United States shall be deemed a resident of this State in consequence of being stationed at any military or naval place within the same.
38 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
4. A person must not be considered to have lost his residence who leaves his home to go into another state, or other district of this State, for temporary purposes merely with the intention of returning, provided he has not exercised the right of the election franchise in said state or district.
5. A person must not be considered to have gained a residence in any county into which he comes for temporary purposes merely without the intention of making such county his home.
6. If a person removes to another state with the intention of making it his residence, he loses his residence in this State.
7. If a person removes to another state with the intention of remain- ing there for an indefinite time, and as a place of present residence, he loses his residence in this State, notwithstanding he entertains an inten- tion of returning at some future period.
8. The place where a man's family resides is presumed his place of residence, but any man who takes up or continues his abode with the intention of remaining, or a place other than where his family resides, must be regarded as a resident of the place where he so abides.
9. A change of residence can only be made by the act of removal joined with the intent to remain in another place. There can only be one residence. A residence cannot be lost until another is gained.
10. The terms of residence must be computed by including the day of the election.
Section 575. When a naturalized citizen applies for registration his certificate of naturalization, or a certified copy thereof, must be pro- duced and stamped, or written in ink by the registry agent, with such registry agent's name and the year and day and county where pre- sented; but if it satisfactorily appears to the registry agent, by the affidavit of the applicant (and the affidavit of one or more credible electors as to the credibility of such applicant when deemed necessary), that his certificate of naturalization, or a certified copy thereof, is lost or destroyed, or beyond the reach of the applicant for the time being, said registry agent must register the name of said applicant, unless he is by law otherwise disqualified; but in case of failure to pro- duce the certificate of naturalization, or a certified copy thereof, the registry agent must propound the following questions:
1. In what year did you come to the United States?
2. In what state or territory, county, court, and year were you finally admitted to citizenship ?
3. Where did you last see your certificate of naturalization, or a certified copy thereof?
Section 576. The judges of election in each precinct, at every general or special election, shall, in the precinct register book, which shall be certified to them by the County Clerk, mark a cross (X) upon the line opposite to the name of the elector, before any elector is permitted to vote, the judges of election shall require the elector to sign his name upon one of the precinct register books, designated by the County Clerk for that purpose, and in a column reserved in the said precinct books for the signature of electors. If the elector is not able to sign his name he
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 39
shall be required by the judges to produce two freeholders who shall make an affidavit before the judges of election, or one of them, in sub- stantially the following form:
STATE OF MONTANA, | County of j
We, the undersigned witnesses, do swear that our names and signa- tures are genuine, and that we are each personally acquainted with
, (the name of the elector)
and that we know that he is residing at ,
and that we believe that he is entitled to vote at this election, and that we are each freeholders in the county. Which affidavit shall be filed by the judges, and returned by them to the County Clerk, with the return of the election; one of the judges shall thereupon write the elector's name, and note the fact of his inability to sign, and the names of the two freeholders who made the affidavit herein provided for. If the elector fails or refuses to sign his name and if unable to write fails to procure two freeholders who will take the oath herein provided, he shall not be allowed to vote. Immediately after the election and canvass of the returns, the judges of election shall deliver to the County Clerk the copy of said official precinct register sealed, with the election returns and poll-book, which have been used at said election.
Section 577. In any action or proceeding instituted in a district court to compel the County Clerk to make and enter the name of any elector in the precinct register, as many persons may be joined as plaintiffs for cause of action and as many persons as there are causes of action against may be joined as defendants.
Section 578. No person shall be entitled to vote at any election mentioned in this Act unless his name shall on the day of election, except at school election in school districts of the second and third class, appear in the copy of the official precinct register furnished by the County Clerk to the judges of election, and the fact that his name so appears in the copy of the precinct register shall be prima facie evidence of his right to vote; provided, that when the judges shall have good reason to believe, or when they shall be informed by a qualified elector that the person offering to vote is not the person who was so registered in that name, the vote of such person shall not be received until he shall have proved his identity as the person who was registered in that name by the oath of two reputable freeholders within the precinct in which such elector is registered.
Section 579. Any elector whose name is erroneously omitted from any precinct poll-book may apply for and secure from the County Clerk a certificate of such error, and stating the precinct in which such elector is entitled to vote, and upon the presentation of such certificate to the judges of election in such precinct, the said elector shall be entitled to vote in the same manner as if his name had appeared upon the precinct poll-book. Such certificate shall be marked "voted" by the judges, and shall be returned by them with the poll-book.
40 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
Section 580. Wherever in this Act the word "Ck)unty Clerk" appears, it shall be construed as extending and giving authority to any regularly appointed Deputy County Clerk.
Section 581. The v^^ord "elector" as used in this law, whether used with or without the masculine pronoun, shall apply equally to male and female electors.
Section 582. The word "election" as used in this law where not otherwise qualified, shall be taken to apply to general, special, primary nominating and municipal elections, and to elections in school districts of the first class.
Section 583. Any person or persons, or any officer of any county, city or town, or school district, who, under the provisions of this Act, are required to perform any duty, who shall wilfully or knowingly fail, refuse or neglect to perform such duty, or to comply with the provisions of this Act, shall, upon conviction, be fined in the sum of not less than Three Hundred Dollars, nor more than One Thousand Dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less than three months and no more than one year. Upon the conviction of any officer of the violation of the provisions of this Act, the Judge of the District Court hearing such proceeding shall, at the time of rendering judgment of conviction, include in such order of conviction an order of the court that such officer be removed from office.
Section 584. If any person offering to vote at any primary election be challenged by a judge or any qualified elector at said election, as to his right to vote thereat, an oath shall be administered to him by one of the judges that he will truly answer all questions touching his right to vote at such election, and if it appear that he is not a qualified voter under the provisions of this Act, his vote shall be rejected; and if any person whose vote shall be so rejected shall offer to vote at the same election, at any other polling place, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
Section 585. Any person who shall make false answers, either for himself or another, or shall violate or attempt to violate any of the provisions of this Act, or knowingly encourage another to violate the same, or any public officer or officers, or other persons upon whom any duty is imposed by this Act, or any of its provisions, who shall wilfully neglect such duty, or shall wilfully perform it in such way as to hinder the objects and purposes of this Act, shall, excepting where some penalty is provided by the terms of this Act, be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison for a period of not less than one year or more than fourteen years, and if such person be a public officer, shall also forfeit his office.
Section 586. It shall be the duty of the Board of County Commis- sioners of each county to provide the County Clerk thereof with sufficient help to enable him to properly perform the duties imposed upon him by this Act, and the cost of the stationery, printing, publishing, and posting to be furnished or procured by the County Clerk by the pi'ovisions of this law shall be a proper charge upon the county.
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 41
JUDGES AND CLERKS OF ELECTION
Section 587. The Board of County Commissioners of the several counties at the regular session next preceding a general election, must appoint five judges of election for each precinct in which the voters therein, by the last registration, were two hundred or more and three judges of election for each precinct in which such registration was less than two hundred, as amended by Chapter 43, Laws of 1923.
Section 588. The Board of County Commissioners, notwithstanding the registration, may appoint five judges of each precinct in which upon information obtained by them they have reason to believe contains two hundred voters or more and three judges of election in precincts which upon information obtained by them, they have reason to believe was less than two hundred, as amended by Chapter 43, Laws of 1923.
Section 589. In any new precinct established, the Board of County Commissioners must, in like manner, appoint five or three judges of election, according to the estimated number of voters therein, as required by the two next preceding sections.
Section 590. In making the appointment of judges of election, not more than a majority of such judges must be appointed from any one political party for each precinct.
Section 591. The compensation of members of boards of election, including judges and clerks, is hereby fixed at forty cents per hour for the time actually on duty, and must be audited by the Board of County Commissioners and paid out of the county treasury.
Section 592. The clerk of the board must make out and forward by mail, immediately after the appointment of the judges, a notice thereof in writing, directed to each of them. In case there is no postoffice in any one or more of the precincts in any county, the clerk must forward notices of such appointment by registered mail to the postoffice nearest such precinct, directed to the judges aforesaid. If, in any of the precincts, any of the judges refuse or neglect to serve, the electors of such precinct may elect a judge or judges to fill vacancies on the morning of the election, to serve at such election.
Section 593. The judges must elect two persons having the same qualifications as themselves to act as clerks of the election. The judges continue judges of all elections to be held in their respective precincts until other judges are appointed; and the clerks of election continue to act as such during the pleasure of the judges of election, and the Board of County Commissioners must from time to time fill vacancies which may occur in the office of judges of election in any precinct within their respective counties.
Section 594. The clerks of the several Boards of County Commis- sioners must, at least thirty days before any general election, make and forward by mail to such judge or judges as are designated by the County Commissioners, three written notices for each precinct, said notices to be substantially as follows:
42 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
Notice is hereby given that on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday of November, 19 , at the house , in the county of
, an election will be held for (nam- ing the offices to be filled, including electors of President and Vice- President, a Representative in Congress, State, county and township officers), and for the determination of the following questions (naming them) , the polls of which election will be open at 8 o'clock in the morning and continue open until 6 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day. Dated
this day of , A. D. 19
Signed, A. B., Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners.
Section 595. The judges to whom such notice is directed, as provided in the next preceding section, must cause to be put up in three of the most public places in each precinct the notices of election in such precinct, at least ten days previous to the time of holding any general election, which notices must be posted as follows: One at the house where the election is authorized to be held, and the others at the two most public and suitable places in the precinct.
Section 596. Previous to votes being taken, the judges and clerks of election must take and subscribe the official oath prescribed by the constitution. It is lawful for the judges of election, and they are hereby empowered, to administer the oath to each other, and to the clerks of the election.
Section 597. Any member of the board, or either clerk thereof, may administer and certify oaths required to be administered during the progress of an election.
ELECTION SUPPLIES
Section 598. The Board of County Commissioners of each county must furnish for the several election precincts in each county poll-books after the forms hereinafter prescribed.
Section 599. The clerk of the board must forward by mail, as a registered package, to one of the judges of election so appointed, in each precinct, at least ten days prior to any general election and five days prior to any special election, two of such blank poll-books for the use of the judges of such precinct.
Section 600. The following is the form of poll-books to be kept in duplicate by the judges and clerks of election:
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
43
Poll-Book of Precinct No. Number and names of electors voting.
No.
NAME
No.
NAME
No.
NAME
Total number of votes cast at Precinct No
We, the undersigned, judges and clerks of an election held at Precinct
No , in the County of , in the State
of Montana, on the day of , 19 ,
having first been severally sworn according to law, hereby certify that the foregoing is a true statement of the number and names of the persons voting at said precinct at said election, and that the following named persons received the number of votes annexed to their respective names for the following described offices to-wit:
Governor
Members of Legislative Assembly
A. B.,- C. D.,-
- Votes Senate' House of Representatives -Votes E. F., Votes G. H., Votes
Certified and Signed by Us.
~ [ Clerks.
Judges.
Section 601. No poll-book or certificate returned from any election precinct must be set aside or rejected for want of form, nor on account of its not being strictly in accordance with the directions of this chapter, if it can be satisfactorily understood.
Section 602. The necessary printed blanks for poll lists, tally lists, lists of electors, tickets, and returns, together with envelopes in which to enclose the returns, must be furnished by the Boards of County Com- missioners to the officers of each election precinct at the expense of the county.
Section 603. Before the opening of the polls, the County Clerk, or the City Clerk in the case of municipal elections, must deliver to the judges of each election precinct which is within the county (or within the municipality in case of municipal election) and in which the election
44 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
is to be held, at the polling place of the precinct, the proper number of election ballots as provided for in section 687 of this Code. He must also deliver to said judges a rubber or other stamp, with ink pad, for the purpose of stamping or designating the official ballots as hereinafter provided. Said stamp must contain the words "Official Ballot," the name or number of the election precinct, the name of the county, the date of the election, and name and official designation of the clerk who furnishes the ballots. The judge of election to whom the stamps and ballots are given pursuant to this section must be the same person who may be designated by the commissioners to post the notices required by section 594 of this Code. But in case it be impracticable to deliver such stamps and ballots to such judge then they may be delivered to some other one of the judges of election.
Section 604. There shall be provided at the expense of the county, for each polling precinct, a substantial ballot box or canvas pouch with a secure lock and key for the ballots and detached stubs as hereinafter provided for. There shall be one opening and no more in such box or canvas pouch, of sufficient size to admit a single folded ballot. The adoption of the canvas pouch to be used instead of the ballot box, in any precinct, shall be optional with the commissioners of each county, but in such precincts where pouches are so adopted, the pouches shall be re- turned to the County Clerk together, with the other election returns, as by law provided.
Section 605. There must be an opening in the lid of such box of no larger size than shall be sufficient to admit a single folded ballot.
Section 606. Before receiving any ballots, the judges must, in the presence of any persons assembled at the polling place, open and exhibit the ballot-box and remove any contents therefrom, and then close and lock the same, delivering the key to one of their members, and thereafter the ballot-box must not be removed from the polling place or presence of the bystanders until all the ballots are counted, nor must it be opened until after the polls are finally closed.
Section 607. The County Clerk of each county must cause to be printed in large type on cards, in the English language, instructions for the guidance of electors in preparing their ballots. He must furnish six cards to the judges of election in each election precinct, and one additional card for each fifty registered electors, or fractional part thereof, in the precinct, at the same time and in the same manner as the printed ballots. The judges of election must post not less than one of such cards in each place or compartment provided for the preparation of ballots, and not less than three of such cards elsewhere in and about polling places upon the day of election. Said cards must be printed in large, clear type, and must contain full instructions to the voters as to what should be done, viz.:
1. To obtain ballots for voting.
2. To prepare the ballots for deposit in the ballot boxes.
3. To obtain a new ballot in the place of one spoiled by accident or mistake. Said card must also contain a copy of sections 10753, 10757, 10758, 10759, 10760, 10761 of the Penal Code. There must also be posted
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 45
in each of the compartments, or booths, one of the official tickets, as provided in sections 677 to 686, without the official stamp, and not less than three such tickets posted elsewhere in and about the polling places upon the day of election.
Section 608. In sending out election supplies to each precinct for each general election, it shall be the duty of the County Clerk in each county to send with such supplies not less than six printed forms, with a return envelope, for the use of judges of election in transmitting elec- tion returns for public information. Said printed forms shall be in ballot form on tinted paper, and the name of each candidate and each proposi- tion voted on shall be printed on said blank. Brief instructions for the use of said blank, as contained in this Act, shall also be printed on said blank.
Section 609. As soon as all of the ballots have been counted in any precinct, it shall be the duty of the election judges to correctly copy the total vote cast for each candidate and the total vote cast for and against each proposition on the blanks furnished by the County Clerk, as provided in the preceding section.
Section 610. One of said blanks, properly filled out, shall be posted forthwith at the polling place; and one copy, correctly filled out, shall be sent by mail or by messenger, when the same can be done without expense, to the County Clerk. Said copy may be sent by the same mes- senger carrying the official election returns, but the same shall not be enclosed or sealed with the other returns.
Section 611. Any judge of election, or other officer, who shall fail or refuse to comply with the provisions of this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding Fifty Dollars.
NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES FOR SPECIAL ELECTIONS BY CONVENTION OR PRIMARY MEETING OR BY ELECTORS
Section 612. Any convention or primary meeting held for the pur- pose of making nominations to public office, or the number of electors required in this chapter, may nominate candidates for public office to be filled by election in the State. A convention or primary meeting within the meaning of this chapter is an organized assemblage of electors or delegates representing a political party or principle.
Section 613. All nominations made by such convention or primary meeting must be certified as follows: The certificate of nomination, which must be in writing, must contain the name of each person nomi- nated, his residence, his business, his business address, and the office for which he is named, and must designate, in not more than five words, the party or principle which such convention or primary meeting repre- sents, and it must be signed by the presiding officer and secretary of such convention or primary meeting, who must add to their signatures their respective places of residence, their business, and business ad- dresses. Such certificates must be delivered by the secretary or the president of such convention or primary meeting to the Secretary of the State or to the County Clerk, as in this chapter required.
46 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
Section 614. Cei'tificates of nomination of candidates for offices to be filled by the electors of the entire State, or of any division or district greater than a county, must be filed with the Secretary of State. Cer- tificates of nomination for county, township, and precinct officers must be filed with the clerks of the respective counties wherein the officers are to be elected. Certificates of nomination for municipal officers must be filed with the clerks of the respective municipal corporations wherein the officers are to be elected. The certificate of nomination of joint member of the House of Representatives must be filed in the offices of the County Clerks of the counties to be represented by such joint member.
Section 615. Candidates for public office may be nominated other- wise than by convention or primary meeting in the manner following:
A certificate of nomination, containing the name of a candidate for the office to be filled, with such information as is required to be given in certificates provided for in section 613, must be signed by electors residing within the State and district, or political division in and for which the officer or officers are to be elected, in the following required numbers:
The number of signatures must not be less in number than five per cent of the number of votes cast for the successful candidate for the same office at the next preceding election, whether the said candidate be State, county, township, municipal, or any other political division or subdivision of State or county; but the signatures need not all be ap- pended to one paper. Each elector signing a certificate shall add to his signature his place of residence, his business, and his business address. Any such certificate may be filed as provided for in the next preceding section of this chapter, in the manner and with the same effect as a certificate of nomination made by a party convention or primary meeting.
Section 616. No certificate of nomination must contain the name of more than one candidate for each office to be filled. No person must join in nominating more than one person for each office to be filled, and no person must accept a nomination to more than one office.
Section 617. The Secretary of State and the clerks of the several counties and of the several municipal corporations must cause to be preserved in their respective offices for one year all certificates of nomi- nation filed under the provisions of this chapter. All such certificates must be open to public inspection under proper i-egulations to be made by the officers with whom the same are filed.
Section 618. Certificate of nomination to be filed with the Secretary of State must be filed not more than sixty (60) days and not less than thirty (30) days before the date fixed by law for the election. Certificates of nomination herein directed to be filed with the County Clerk must be filed not more than sixty (60) days and not less than thirty (30) days before the election; certificates of the nomination of candidates for municipal offices mu^t be filed with the clerks of the respective municipal corporations not more than thirty (30) days and not less than ten days previous to the day of election; but the provisions of this section shall not be held to apply to nominations for special elections to fill vacancies, as amended by Chapter 64, Laws of 1925.
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 47
Section 619. Not less than twenty-five nor more than forty days before an election to fill any public office, the Secretary of State must certify to the County Clerk of each county within which any of the electors may by law vote for candidates for such office, the name and description of each person nominated, as specified in the certificates of nomination filed with the Secretary of State, as amended by Chapter 58, Laws of 1925.
Section 620. Whenever any pei'son nominated for public office, as in this chapter provided, shall at least twenty days before election, except in the case of municipal elections, in writing, signed by him, notify the office with whom the certificate nominating him is by this chapter to be filed, that he declines such nomination, such nomination shall be void. In municipal elections, such declination shall be made at least five days before the election. As amended by Chapter 15, Laws of 1925.
Section 621. If any person so nominated dies before the printing of the tickets, or declines the nomination as in this chapter provided, or if any certificate of nomination is or becomes insufficient or inoperative from any cause, the vacancy or vacancies thus occasioned may be filled in the manner required for original nomination. If the original nomina- tion was made by a party convention which had delegated to a committee the power to fill vacancies, such committee may, upon the occurring of such vacancies, proceed to fill the same. The chairman and secretary of such committee must thereupon make and file with the proper officer a certificate setting forth the cause of the vacancy, the name of the person nominated, the office for which he was nominated, the name of the person for whom the new nominee is to be substituted, the fact that the committee was authorized to fill vacancies, and such further informa- tion as is required to be given in an original certificate of nomination. The certificate so made must be executed in the manner prescribed for the original certificate of nomination, and has the same force and effect as an original certificate of nomination. When such certificate is filed with the Secretary of State, he must, in certifying the nominations to the various County Clerks, insert the name of the person who has thus been nominated to fill a vacancy in place of the name of the original nominee. And in the event he has already transmitted his certificate, he must forthwith certify to the clerks of the proper counties the name and description of the person so nominated to fill a vacancy, the office he is nominated for, the party or political principle he represents and the name of the person for whom such nominee is substituted.
Section 622. Whenever it appears by affidavit that an error or omission has occurred in the publication of the name or description of a candidate nominated for office, or in the printing of the ballots, the District Court of the county may, upon application of any elector, by order require the County or Municipal Clerk to correct such error, or to show cause why such error should not be corrected.
Section 623. No person shall be entitled to vote at any caucus, pri- mary meeting, or election, held by any political party, except he be an elector of the state and county within which such caucus, primary meet-
48 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
inpr, or election is held, and a legal resident of the precinct or district within which such caucus, primary meeting, or election is held, and the limits of which said precinct or district are fixed and prescribed by the regularly chosen and recognized representatives of the party issuing the call for such caucus, primary meeting, or election.
Section 624. No person shall be entitled to vote at any caucus, pri- mary meeting, or election, who is not identified vnth the political party holding such caucus, primary meeting, or election, or who does not intend to act with such political party at the ensuing election, whose candidates are to be nominated at such caucus or primary meeting. And no person, having voted at any primary meeting or election of any political party whose candidates are to be or have been nominated, shall be permitted to vote at the primary meeting or election of any other political party whose candidates are to be or have been nominated, and to be voted for at the same general or special election.
Section 625. Three judges, who shall be legal voters in the precinct where such caucus or primary meeting is held, shall be chosen by the qualified voters of said precinct or district, who are present at the opening of such caucus or primary meeting, and said judges shall be empoM-^ered to administer oaths and affirmations, and they shall decide all questions relating to the qualifications of those voting or offering to vote at such caucus or primary meeting, and they shall correctly count all votes cast and certify the results of the same.
Section 626. The judges shall select one of their number who shall act as clerk, and the clerk must keep a true record of each and every person voting, with their residence, giving the street and number and postoffice address.
Section 627. Any qualified voter may challenge the right of any person offering to vote at such caucus or primary meeting, and in the event of such challenge, the person challenged shall swear to and sub- scribe an oath administered by one of the judges, which oath shall be substantially as follows:
"I do solemnly swear that I am a citizen of the United States, and am an elector of this county and of this precinct where this primary is now being held, that I have been and now am identified with the party or that it is my intention bona fide to act with the party, and identify myself with the same at the ensuing election, and that I have not voted at any primary meeting or election of any other political party whose candidates are to be voted for at the next general election or special election."
If the challenged party takes the oath above prescribed he is entitled to vote; provided, in case a person taking the oath as aforesaid shall intentionally make false answers to any questions put to him by any one of the judges concerning his right to vote at such caucus or primary meeting or election, he shall, upon conviction be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a term of not less than one year nor more than three years.
Section 628. It shall be unlawful for any judge of any caucus or primary meeting or primary election to knowingly receive the vote of
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 49
any person whom he knows is not entitled to vote, or to fraudulently or wrongfully deposit any ballot or ballots in the ballot box, or take any ballot or ballots from the ballot box of said caucus or primai-y election, or fraudulently or wrongrfully mix any ballots with those cast at such caucus or primary election, or knowingly make any false count, canvass, statement, or return of the ballots cast or vote taken at such caucus or primary election.
Section 629. No person shall, by bribery or other improper means or device, directly or indirectly, attempt to influence any elector in the casting of any ballot at such caucus or primary meeting, or deter him in the deposit of his ballot, or interfere or hinder any voter at such caucus or primary meeting in the full and free exercise of his right of suffrage at such caucus or primary meeting.
Section 630. Any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this Act, except as provided in section 627, shall be guilty of a mis- demeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty Dollars, nor more than Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than three months nor more than twelve months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
(See also Direct Primaries.)
PARTY NOMINATIONS BY DIRECT VOTE— THE DIRECT PRIMARY
Section 631. Whenever the provisions of this law in operation prove to be of doubtful or uncertain meaning, or not sufficiently explicit in directions and details, the general laws of Montana, and especially the election and registration laws, and the customs, practice, usage, and forms thereunder, in the same circumstances or under like conditions, shall be followed in the construction and operation of this law, to the end that the protection of the spirit and intention of said laws shall be extended so far as possible to all primary elections, and especially to all primary nominating elections provided for by this law. If this pro- posed law shall be approved and enacted by the people of Montana, the title of this bill shall stand as the title of the law.
Section 632. On the third Tuesday of July preceding any general election (not including special elections to fill vacancies, municipal elec- tions in towns and cities, irrigation district and school elections) at which public officers in this state and in any district or county are to be elected, a primary nominating election shall be held in accordance with this law in the several election precincts comprised within the territory for which such officers are to be elected at the ensuing election, which shall be known as the primary nominating election, for the purpose of choosing candidates by the political parties, subject to the provisions of this law, for Senator in Congress, and all other elective State, district and county officers, and delegates to any constitutional convention or conventions that may hereafter be called, who are to be chosen, at the ensuing elec- tion wholly by electors within this State, or any subdivision of this State, and also for choosing and electing county central committeemen by the several parties subject to the provisions of this law.
As amended by Chapter 3, Laws of 1927.
50 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
Section 633. It shall be the duty of the County Clerk, thirty days before any primary nominating election, to prepare printed notices of such election, and mail two of said notices to each judge and clerk of election in each precinct; and it shall be the duty of the several judges and clerks immediately to post said notice in public places in their respective precincts. Said notices shall be substantially in the following form:
Primary Nominating Election Notice
Notice is hereby given that on , the
day of , 19 , at the , in the
Precinct of , , in the County of ,
Montana, a primary nominating election will be held at which the (insert names of political parties subject to this law) will choose their candidates for State, district, county, precinct and other offices, namely (here name the offices to be filled, including a Senator in Congress when the next Legislative Assembly is to elect a Senator, delegates to any con- stitutional convention then called, and candidates for county central com- mitteemen to be elected) ; which election will be held at 12 o'clock, noon, and will continue until 7 o'clock in the afternoon of said day.
Dated this day of , 19
, County Clerk.
Section 634. The nomination of candidates for municipal offices by the political parties subject to the provisions of this law shall be governed by this law in all incorporated towns and cities of this State having a population of thirty-five hundred and upward as shown by the last pre- ceding national or State census. All petitions by the members of such political parties for placing the names of candidates for nomination for such municipal offices on the primary nominating ballots of the several political parties shall be filed with the city clerk of said several towns and cities, and it shall be the duty of such officers to prepare and issue notices of election for such primary nominating elections in like manner as the several county clerks perform similar duties for nomination by such political parties for county offices at primary nominating elections. The duties imposed by this law on the county clerks at primary nomi- nating elections are hereby, as to said towns and cities, designated to be the duties of the city clerk of said towns and cities as to primary nominating elections of the political parties subject to the provisions of this law, provided, that in cities and towns the primary nominating elec- tion shall be held on the fourteenth day preceding their municipal elec- tions. Under the provisions of this law the lawfully constituted legislative and executive authorities of cities and towns within the provisions of this section shall have such power and authority over the establishing of municipal voting precincts and wards, municipal boards of judges and clerks of election and other officers of their said municipal election, and other matters pertaining to municipal primary nominating elections re- quired for such cities and towns by this law, such legislative and execu- tive authorities have over the same matter at their municipal elections for choosing the public officers of said cities and towns.
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Section 635. This Act is declared to be an emergency law, and a law necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace and
safety.
Section 636. Immediately after the closing of the polls at a primary nominating election, the clerks and judges of election shall open the ballot-boxes at each polling place and proceed to take therefrom the ballots. Said officers shall count the number of ballots cast by each political party, at the same time bunching the tickets cast for each political party together in separate piles, and shall then fasten each pile separately by means of a brass clip, or may use any means which shall effectually fasten each pile together at the top of each ticket. As soon as the clerks and judges have sorted and fastened together the ballots separately for each political party, then they shall take the tally sheets provided by the County Clerk and shall count all the ballots for each political party separately until the count is completed, and shall certify to the number of votes for each candidate for nomination for each office upon the ticket of each party. They shall then place the counted ballots in a box. After all have been counted and certified to by the clerks and judges they shall seal the returns for each of said political parties in separate envelopes, to be returned to the County Clerk.
Section 637. Tally sheets for each political party having candidates to be voted for at said primary nominating election shall be furnished for each voting precinct by the County Clerk, at the same time and in the same manner that the ballots are furnished and shall be substantially as follows:
Tally sheet of the primary nominating election for
(name of political party) held at precinct, in the County
of , on the day of
, 19
The names of the candidates shall be placed on the tally sheets and numbered in the order in which they appear on the official and sample ballots, and in each case shall have the proper political party designated at the head thereof.
The following shall be the form of the tally sheets kept by the judges, and clerks of the primary nominating election under this law, containing the number and name of each person voted for, the particular office for nomination to which each person was voted for, the total number of votes cast for each candidate for nomination. The tally or count as it is kept by each of the clerks shall be audibly announced as it proceeds, and shall be kept in the manner and form as follows:
52
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
|
No. 1 Name of Candidate Office "^RecLi^ed*" |
No. Tally 5 STo. Tally 10 Tally 15 |
||||||||
|
12 |
12 13 14 |
12 13 14 |
12 13 14 |
||||||
|
13 |
|||||||||
|
14 |
|||||||||
The columns for the numbers 12, 13, 14, etc., shall not be over three- eighths of an inch wide. The columns for the tallies shall be three-eighths of an inch wide, the lines shall be three-eighths of an inch apart; every ten lines the captions of the columns shall be reprinted between double- ruled lines in bold-face small pica, and all figures shall be printed in bold-face small pica. The tally sheets shall conclude with the following form of certificate:
We hereby certify that at the above primary nominating election and polling place each of the foregoing named persons received the number of votes set oposite his name, as above set forth, for the nomination for the office specified.
., Chairman
, Clerk
(Who kept this sheet.)
., Judge
Clerk
., Judge
, Clerk
(Who kept the other sheet.)
During the counting of the ballots each clerk shall, with pen and ink, keep tally upon one of the above tally sheets, of each political party, and shall total the number of tallies and write the total in ink immedi- ately to the right of the last tallies for each candidate, and also in the columns headed "Total Vote," and shall prepare the certificate thereto above indicated; and immediately upon the completion of the count, all the clerks shall sign the tally sheets, and each of them shall certify which sheets were kept by him; and the chairman and the judges, being satis- fied of the correctness of the same, shall then sign all of said tally sheets. The clerks shall then prepare a statement of that portion of the tally sheets showing the number and name and political party of each candi- date for nomination and the office and total votes received by each in the precinct, and shall prepare the certificate thereto, which statement shall be signed by the judges and clerks who complete the count, and shall be immediately posted in a conspicuous place on the outside of said polls, there to remain for ten days.
Section 638. Immediately after canvassing the votes in the manner aforesaid, the judges and clerks who complete the count, before they
ELECTION LAWS O."^ MONTANA 63
separate or adjourn shall inclose the poll-books in separate covers and securely seal the same. They shall also inclose the tally sheets in separate envelopes and seal the same securely. They shall also envelope all the ballots fastened together, as aforesaid, and seal the same securely; and they shall be in writing, with pen and ink, specify the contents, and address each of said packages upon the outside thereof to the County Clerk of the county in which the election precinct is situated. These sealed packages of counted ballots shall be marked on the outside, show- ing what numbers are contained therein, but once sealed they are not to be opened by any one until so ordered by the proper court. When the count is completed, the ballots counted and sealed, and enveloped and marked for identification as aforesaid, shall be packed in the two ballot-boxes, and nothing else shall be put into the boxes. The boxes shall then be locked, and the official seal of the board shall be pasted over the keyhole and over the rim of the lid of the box, so that the box cannot be opened without breaking the seal. Thereafter neither the County Clerk nor the canvassers making the abstracts of the vote? shall break the said seals upon the ballot boxes, nor shall any one break the seals on the boxes or the ballots, except upon the order of the proper court in case of contest, or upon the order of the county board when the boxes are needed for the ensuing election.
Section 639. Every political party which has cast three per centum (3%) or more of the total vote cast for Representative in Congress at the next preceding general election in the county, district or state for which nominations are proposed to be made, shall nominate its candidates for public office in such county, district or state, under the provisions of this law, and not in any other manner; and it shall not be allowed to nominate any candidate in the manner provided by section 612 of this Code. Every political party and its regularly nominated candidates, members, and officers, shall have the sole and exclusive right to the use of the party name and the whole thereof, and no candidate for office shall be permitted to use any word of the name of any other political party or organization than that of and by which he is nominated. No inde- pendent or non-partisan candidate shall be permitted to use any word of the name of any existing political party or organization in his can- didacy. The names of candidates for public office nominated under the provisions of this law shall be printed on the official ballots for the ensuing election as the only candidates of the respective political parties for such public office in like manner as the names of the candidates nominated by other methods are required to be printed on such official ballots.
Any political party that did not cast three per centum (3%) or more of the total vote cast for Representative in Congress, as above, and any new political party about to be formed or organized, may make nomina- tions for public office as provided in section 612 of this code.
As amended by Chapter 7, Laws of 1927.
Section 640. Any person who shall desire to become a candidate for nomination to any office under this law shall send by registered mail,
54 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
or otherwise, to the Secretary of State, County Clerk, or City Clerk, a petition for nomination, signed by himself, accompanied by the filing fee hereinafter provided for, and such petition shall be filed and shall be con- clusive evidence for the purpose of this law that such elector is a candi- date for nomination by his party. All nominating petitions pertaining to congressional, state or district offices to be voted for in more than one county, and for judges of the District Court shall be filed in the offices of the Secretary of State; for county and district offices, to be voted for in one county only, and for township and precinct officers, shall be filed in the office of the County Clerk; and for all city offices in the office of the City Clerk.
The fees required to be paid for filing such petitions shall be as follows:
For any office with a salary attached of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or less per annum. Ten Dollars (.$10.00); except candidates for the State Senate and House of Representatives shall be Fifteen Dol- lars ($15.00).
For any office with a salary attached of more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per annum, one per cent (1%) of total amount of annual salary.
For the office of County Commissioner in counties of the first class Forty Dollars ($40.00) ; in counties of the second class. Thirty-five Dol- lars ($35.00) ; in counties of the third class. Thirty Dollars ($30.00) ; in counties of the fourth class. Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) ; in all other classes of counties Ten Dollars ($10.00).
For the office the compensation of which consists of fees instead of a salary, Five Dollars ($5.00).
For state, county and precinct committeemen, delegates to national conventions and presidential electors no fees shall be required to be paid.
Any person receiving the nomination by having his name written in on the primary ballot, and desiring to accept such nomination, shall file with the Secretary of State, county clerk, or city clerk, a written declara- tion indicating his acceptance of said nomination within ten (10) days after the election at which he receives such nomination, and at the same time he shall pay to the officer with whom such declaration of acceptance is filed the fee above provided for filing a primary nominating petition for such office. No candidate receiving a nomination at a primary election as above provided shall have his name printed on the official ballot for the general election without complying with the provisions of this section.
As amended by Chapter 125, Laws of 1927.
Section 641. The petition for nomination required by the preceding section shall be substantially in the following form:
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 65
To (name and title of officer with whom petition
is to be filed) and to the members of the
party and the electors of the (State or counties of
comprising the district or county or city, as the
case may be) in the State of Montana:
I reside at and my
postoffice address is I am a candidate of the
party for the nomination for the office of
at the primary nominating election to be held in the (State
of Montana or district, or county or city) on the
day , 19 , and if I am nominated as the can- didate of the party for such office I will accept the
nomination and will not withdraw, and if I am elected I will qualify as such officer.
If I am nominated and elected I will, during my term of office (Here the candidate, in not exceeding one hundred words, may state any meas- ure or principles he especially advocates, and the form in which he wishes it printed after his name on the nominating ballot, in not exceeding twelve words.)
Signature of Candidate for Nomination.
Each such petition shall be signed as above by the elector seeking such nomination.
Sections 642, 643, Repealed by Chapter 133, Laws of 1923.
Section 644. All petitions for nomination under this Act for offices to be filled by the State at large or by any district consisting of more than one county, and nominating petitions for judges of district courts in districts consisting of a single county, shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State not less than forty days before the date of the primary nominating election; and for other offices to be voted for in only one county, or district or city, every such petition shall be filed with the County Clerk or City Clerk, as the case may be, not less than thirty days before the date of the primary nominating election. As amend- ed by Chapter 133, Laws of 1923.
Section 645. The Secretary of State, County Clerk and City Clerk shall keep a book entitled "Register of Candidates of Nomination at the Primary Nominating Election," and shall enter thereon on different pages of the book for different political parties subject to the provisions of this law, the title of the office sought and the name and residence of each candidate for nomination at the primary election; the name of his political party; the date of receiving the petition for nomination signed by the candidate; the words he wishes printed after his name on the nominating ballot, if any; and such other information as may aid him in arranging his official ballot for said primary nominating election. Immediately after the canvass of votes cast at a primary nominating election is completed, the County Clerk, Secretary of State or City Clerk, as the case may be, shall enter in his book marked "Register of Nomina-
56 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
tions," the date of such entry, the name of each candidate nominated, the office for which he is nominated, and the name of the pax-ty making the nomination. As amended by Chapter 133, Laws of 1923.
Section 646. Such registers of candidates for nomination, and of nominations and petitions, letters and notices, and other writings required by law as soon as filed, shall be public records, and shall be open to public inspection under proper regulations; and when a copy of any such writing is presented at the time the original is filed, or at any time thereafter, and a request is made to have such copy compared and certified, the officers with whom such writing was filed shall foi'th- with compare such copy with the original on file, and, if necessary, cor- rect the copy and certify and deliver the copy to the person who pre- sented it on payment of his lawful fees therefor. All such writings, poll-books, tally sheets, ballots, and ballot stubs pertaining to primary nominating elections under the provisions of this Act shall be preserved as other records are for two years after the election to which they pertain, at which time, unless otherwise ordered or restrained by some court, the County Clerk shall destroy the ballots and ballot stubs, by fire, without any one inspecting the same.
Section 647. The provisions of sections 620 and 621 of this Code shall apply to nominations, or petitions for nominations, made under the provisions of this law, in case of the death of the candidate or his removal from the State or his county or electoral district before the date of the ensuing election, but in no other case. In case of any such vacancy by death or removal from the State, or from the county or electoral district, such vacancy may be filled by the committee which has been given power by the political party or this law to fill such vacancies sub- stantially in the manner provided by said sections 620 and 621 of this Code.
Section 648. Arrangement and notice of nominations. Not more than forty days and not less than twenty-five days before the day fixed by law for the primary nominating election the Secretary of State shall arrange, in the manner provided by this law, for the arrangement of the names and other information upon the ballots, all the names of and information concerning all the candidates for nomination contained in the valid petitions for nomination which have been filed with him in accordance with the provisions of this law, and he shall forthwith certify the same under the seal of the State, and file the same in his office, and make and transmit a duplicate thereof by registered letter to the County Clerk of each county in the State, and he shall also post a duplicate thereof in a conspicuous place in his office and keep the same posted until after said primary nominating election has taken place. In case of emergency the Secretary of State may transmit such duplicate by tele- graph. As amended by Chapter 12, Laws of 1925.
Section 649. Arrangement of ballots and notice. Not moi'e than thirty days, and not less than twenty days before the day fixed by law for the primary nominating election, the County Clerk of each county, or the City Clerk of each city, as the case may be, subject to the provisions of this law, shall arrange in the manner provided by this law for the
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 87
ax'rangement of the names and othei* information concerning all the can- didates and parties named in the valid petitions for nomination which have been filed with him and those which have been certified to him by the Secretary of State, in accordance vdth the provisions of this law; and he shall forthwith certify the same under the official seal of his office, and file the same in his office, and make and post a duplicate thereof in a conspicuous place in his office, and keep the same posted until after the primary nominating election has taken place; and he shall forthwith proceed and cause to be printed, according to law, the colored sample ballots and the official ballots required by this law. As amended by Chapter 12, Laws of 1925.
Section 650. All blanks, ballots, poll-books and other supplies to be used at any primaries shall be provided, and all expenses necessarily incurred in the preparation for, or conducting such primaries shall be paid out of the treasury of the county in the same manner and by the same officers as in the case of elections. Not later than one day next preceding any primary the County Clerk must furnish one of the judges of the primaries in each precinct with a copy of the official register and a check list for the precinct.
Section 651. At all primary elections there shall be a ballot made up of the several party tickets herein provided for, each of which shall be printed on a separate sheet of white paper, and all of which shall be the same size, and shall be securely fastened together at the top and folded, provided that there shall be as many separate tickets as there are parties entitled to participate in said primary election.
The names of all candidates shall be arranged alphabetically accord- ing to surnames, under the appropriate title of the respective officers, and under the proper party designation upon the party ticket, except as hereinafter provided. When two or more persons are candidates for nomination for the same office, it shall be the duty of the County Clerk in each of the Counties of the State to divide the ballot forms provided by the law for the county, into sets so as to provide a substantial rotation of the names of the respective candidates as follows:
He shall divide the whole number of ballot forms for the county into sets equal in number to the greatest number of candidates for the nomi- nation or election to any office, and he shall so arrange said sets that the names of the candidates shall, beginning with a form arranged in alphabetical order as provided herein, be rotated by removing one name from the top of the list for each nomination or office and placing said name or number at the bottom of the list for each successive set of ballot forms; provided, however, that no more than one of said sets shall be used in printing the ballots for use in any one precinct, and that all ballots furnished for use in any precinct shall be of one form and identi- cal in every respect. If any elector write upon his ticket the name of any person who is a candidate for the same office upon some other ticket than that upon which his name is so written this ballot shall be counted for such person only as a candidate of the party upon whose ticket his name is written, and in no case shall be counted for such person as a candidate upon any other ticket. In case any person is nominated as
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provided in this Act, upon more than one ticket, he shall within ten (10) days after such election file with the Secretary of State, County Clerk or City Clerk, a written document indicating the party designation under which his name is to be printed on the official ballot for the general election, failing in which, his name shall be printed upon the party ticket for which his nominating petition shall have been first filed, and no candidate shall have his name printed on more than one ticket; provided, however, that in the event a candidate whose name has been printed upon the party ticket for which his nominating petition shall have been first filed shall fail of nomination upon the ticket upon which his name is so printed, his name shall not be printed upon any ballot under any party designation; and provided further that nothing in this Act shall preclude any elector from having his name printed upon the ballot as an Inde- pendent Candidate. The ballots with the endorsements shall be printed on white paper in substantially the forms of the Australian Ballot, used in general elections, except that the candidates of each party shall be printed on a separate ticket or sheet. After preparing his ballot the elector shall detach the same from the remaining tickets and fold it so that its face will be concealed and with official stamp thereon seen. The remaining tickets attached together shall be folded in like manner by the elector who shall thereupon, without leaving the polling place, vote the marked ballot forthwith, and deposit the remaining tickets in the separate ballot box to be marked and designated as the blank ballot box. Immediately after the canvass, the Judges of the Election shall, without examination, destroy the tickets deposited in the blank ballot box. As amended by Chapter 67, Laws of 1929.
Section 652. There shall be printed and furnished for each election precinct a number of ballots equal to the number of voters registered in such voting precinct and entitled to vote at such primary nominating election.
If any political party shall desire sample ballots its political com- mittee may order the same from the County Clerk or City Clerk who shall collect from such committee an amount sufficient to pay the cost of printing such sample ballots, and such sample ballots after being printed, shall, on the written order of the clerk, be delivered to the committee ordering the same, but no such sample ballots shall be printed except on the order of the County or City Clerk. The sample ballots shall be duplicate impressions of the official ballots to be voted, but in no case shall they be white, nor shall said sample ballots have perforated stubs, nor shall they have the same margin either at the top or sides or bottom as the official ballots have, or nearer thereto than twelve points, and the names of the candidates on the tickets composing the same shall not be rotated as required for the official ballots, but shall be impressions of the tickets belonging to lot one of each party. As amended by Chapter 133, Laws of 1923.
Section 653. At all general primary nominating elections next pre- ceding the election of a Senator in Congress by the Legislature of Montana there shall be placed upon the official primary nominating election ballots, by each of the county clerks and clerks of the county
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 59
board, the names of all candidates for the office of Senator in Congress, for whose nominations petitions have been duly made and filed under the provisions of this law, the votes for which candidates shall be counted and certified to by the election judges and clerks in the same manner as the votes for other candidates; and records of the vote for such candidates shall be made out and sworn to by the board of can- vassers of each county of the State and returned to the Secretary of State at the time and in like manner as they shall transmit other records and i-eturns required by this law.
Section 654. On the third day after the close of any primary nomi- nating election, or sooner if all the returns be received, the County Clerk, taking to his assistance two Justices of the Peace of the county of dif- ferent political parties, if practicable, shall proceed to open said returns and make abstracts of the votes. Such abstracts of votes for nomination for Governor and for Senator in Congress shall be on one separate sheet for each political party, and shall be immediately transmitted to the Secretary of State in like manner as other election returns are trans- mitted to him. Such abstract of votes for nomination of each party for Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney-General, State Aud- itor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Railroad Commissioners, Clerk of the Supreme Court, State Treasurer, Justices of the Supreme Court, members of Congress, Judges of the District Court, and members of the Legislative Assembly, who are to be nominated from a district composed of more than one county, shall be on one sheet, separately for each political party, and shall be forthwith transmitted to the Secretary of State, as required by the following section. The abstract of votes for county and precinct offices shall be on another sheet separately for each political party; and it shall be the duty of said clerk immediately to certify the nomination for each party and enter upon his register of nominations the name of each of the persons having the highest number of votes for nomination as candidates for members of the Legislative Assembly, county and precinct offices, respectively, and to notify by mail each person who is so nominated; provided, that when a tie shall exist between two or more persons for the same nomination by reason of said two or more persons having an equal and the highest number of votes for nomination by one party to one and the same office, the County Clerk shall give notice to the several persons so having the highest and equal number of votes to attend at his office at a time to be appointed by said clerk, who shall then and there proceed publicly to decide by lot which of the persons so having an equal number of votes shall be declared nominated by his party; and said clerk shall forthwith enter upon his register of nominations the name of the persons thus duly nominated, in like manner as though he had received the highest number of the votes of his party for that nomination; and it shall be the duty of the County Clerk of every county on receipt of the returns of any general primary nominating election, to make out his cei'tificate stating therein the com- pensation to which the judges and clerks of election may be entitled for their services, and lay the same before the county Board of County Com- missioners at its next term, and the said Board shall order the compen-
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sation aforesaid to be paid out of the county treasury. In all primary nominating elections in this State, under the provisions of this law, the person having the highest number of votes for nomination to any office shall be deemed to have been nominated by his political party for that office.
Section 655. The County Clerk, immediately after making the ab- stracts of votes given in his county, shall make a copy of each of said abstracts and transmit it by mail to the Secretary of State, at the seat of government; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State, in the presence of the Governor and the State Treasurer, to proceed within fifteen days after the primary nominating election, and sooner, if all returns be received, to canvass the votes given for nomination for Gov- emoi% Senator in Congress, Lieutenant-Governor, Attorney-General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Railroad Commissioners, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Auditor, Justices of the Supreme Court, Clerk of the Supreme Court, members of Congress, Judges of the District Court, Senators and Representatives, and all other officers to be voted for by the people of the State, or of any district comprising more than one county; and the Governor shall grant a certificate of nomination to the person having the highest number of votes for each office, and shall issue a proclamation declaring the nomination of each person by his party. In case there shall be no choice for nomination for any office by reason of any two or more persons having an equal and the highest num- ber of votes of his party for nomination for either of said offices, the Secretary of State shall immediately give notice to the several persons so having the highest and equal number of votes to attend at his office, either in person or by attorney, at a time to be appointed by said Secre- tary, who shall then and there proceed to publicly decide by lot which of said persons so having an equal number of votes shall be declared duly nominated by his party; and the Governor shall issue his proclama- tion declaring the nomination of such person or persons, as above pro- vided.
Section 656. Whenever it shall appear by affidavit to the District Court or Judge thereof, or to the Supreme Court or Judge thereof, that an error or omission has occurred or is about to occur in the printing of the name of any candidate or other matter on the official primary nominating election ballots, or that any error has been or is about to be committed in the printing of the ballots, or that the name of any person or any other matter has been or is about to be wrongfully placed upon such ballots, or that any wrongful act has been performed by any judge or clerk of the primary election. County Clerk, canvassing board or member thereof, or by any person charged with the duty under this Act, or that any neglect of duty by any of the persons aforesaid has occurred or is about to occur, such court or judge shall by order require the officer or person or persons charged with the error, wrongful act, or neglect, to forthwith correct the error, desist from the wrongful act, or perform the duty and do as the court shall order, or show cause forth- with why such error should not be corrected, wrongful act desisted from, or such duty or order performed. Failure to obey the order of any such
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court or judge shall be contempt. Any person in interest or aggrieved by the refusal or failure of any person to perform any duty or act re- quired by this law shall, without derogation to any other right or remedy, be entitled to pray for a mandamus in the District Court of appropriate jurisdiction, and any proceedings under the provisions of this law shall be immediately heard and decided.
Section 657. If the returns and abstracts of the primary nominating election of any county in the State shall not be received at the office of the Secretary of State within twelve days after said election, the Secre- tary of State shall forthwith send a messenger to the county board of such county, whose duty it shall be to furnish said messenger with a copy of said returns, and the said messenger shall be paid out of the county treasury of such county the sum of twenty cents for each mile he shall necessarily travel in going to and returning from said county. The County Clerk, whenever it shall be necessary for him to do so in order to send said returns and abstracts within the time above limited, may send the same by telegraph, the message to be repeated, and the county shall pay the expense of such telegram.
Section 658. If any judge or clerk of a primary nominating election, or other officers or persons on whom any duty is enjoined by this law, shall be guilty of any wilful neglect of such duty, or of any corrupt conduct in the discharge of the same, such judge, clerk, officer or other person, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one year nor more than five years, or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than three months nor more than one year, or by fine not less than One Hundred Dollars nor more than Five Hundred Dollars.
Section 659. Any person wishing to contest the nomination of any other person to any State, county, district, township, precinct, or munici- pal office may give notice in writing to the person whose nomination he intends to contest that his nomination will be contested stating the cause of such contest briefly, within five days from the time said person shall claim to have been nominated.
Section 660. Said notice shall be served in the same manner as a summons issued out of the District Court three days before any hearing upon such contest as herein provided shall take place, and shall state the time and place that such hearing shall be had. Upon the return of said notice served to the Clerk of the Court he shall thereupon enter the same upon his issue docket as an appeal case, and the same shall be heard forthwith by the District Court; provided, that if the case can not be determined by the District Court in term time, within fifteen days after the termination of such primary nominating election, the Judge of the District Court may hear and determine the same at chambers forthwith, and shall make all necessary orders for the trial of the case and carrying his judgment into effect; provided, that the District Court provision of this section shall not apply to township or precinct officers. In case of contest between any persons claiming to be nominated to any town- ship or precinct office, said notice shall be served in the manner afore- said, and shall be returned to the District Court of the county.
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Section 661. Each party to such contest shall be entitled to sub- poenas, and subpoenas duces tecum, as in ordinary cases of law; and the court shall hear and determine the same without the intervention of a jury, in such manner as shall carry into effect the expressed will of a majority of the legal voters of the political party, as indicated by their votes for such nominations, not regarding technicalities or errors in spelling the name of any candidate for such nomination; and the County Clerk shall issue a certificate to the person declared to be duly nominated by said court, which shall be conclusive evidence of the right of said person to hold said nomination; provided, that the judgment or decision of the District Court in term time, or a decision of the Judge thei-eof in vacation, as the case may be, may be removed to the Supreme Court in such manner as may be provided for removing such causes from the District Court to the Supreme Court.
Section 662. County and City Central Committeemen, How Elected. There shall be elected by each political party, subject to the provisions of this law, at said primary nominating election, a committeeman for each election precinct, who shall be a resident of such precinct. Any elector may be placed in nomination for committeeman of any precinct by a writing so stating, signed by such elector, and filed in the office of the County Clerk within the time required in this Act for the filing of petitions naming individuals as candidates for nomination at the regular biennial primary election. The names of the various candidates for Pre- cinct Committeemen of each political party shall be printed on the ticket of the same in the same manner as other candidates and the voter shall express his choice among them in like manner as for such other candi- dates. The committeeman thus elected shall be the representative of his political party in and for such precinct in all ward or subdivision com- mittees that may be formed. The committeemen elected in. each precinct in each county shall constitute the County Central Committee of each of said respective political parties. Those committeemen who reside within the limits of any incorporated city or town shall constitute ex-officio the City Central Committee of each of said respective political parties and shall have the same power and jurisdiction as to the business of their several parties in such city matters that the County Committees have in county matters, save only the power to fill vacancies in said com- mittee, which power is vested in the County Central Committee. Each committeeman shall hold such position for the term of two years from the date of the first meeting of said committee immediately following their election. In case of a vacancy happening, on account of death, resignation, removal from the precinct, or otherwise, the remaining mem- bers of said County Committee may select a committeeman to fill the vacancy and he shall be a resident of the precinct in which the vacancy occurred. Said County and City Central Committees shall have the power to make rules and regulations for the government of their respective political parties in each county and city, not inconsistent with any of the provisions of this law, and to elect the county members of the State Central Committee, and of the members of the Congressional Committee, and said committee shall have the same power to fill all vacancies and
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make rules in their jurisdiction that the county committees have to fill county vacancies and make rules. Said County and City Centi'al Com- mittees shall have the power to make nominations to fill vacancies oc- curring among the candidates of their respective parties nominated for city or county offices by the primary nominating election w^here such vacancy' is caused by death or removal from the electoral district, or otherwise. Said committees shall meet and organize by electing a chair- man and secretary within thirty days after the candidates of their respective political parties shall have been nominated. They may select managing or executive committees and authorize such sub-committees to exercise any and all powers conferred upon the County, City, State and Congressional Central Committees respectively by this law. The chair- man of the County Central Committee shall call said Central Committee meeting and not less than fifteen days before the date of said Central Committee meeting, shall publish said call in a newspaper published at the county seat and shall mail a copy of the call, enclosing a blank proxy, to each Precinct Committeeman. No proxy shall be recognized unless held by an elector of the precinct of the committeeman executing the same. As amended by Chapter 34, Laws of 1929.
Section 663. The State Central Committee of each political party in the State of Montana shall select one national committeeman and one national committeewoman. The chairman of the State Central Committee shall at once file with the national committee the names of the national committeeman and national committeewoman so selected, and it shall be the duty of the chairman of the delegation to the national convention of each political party to report to the national convention the names of the persons so selected to be the national committeeman and the national committeewoman of his political party for the State of Montana. Said committeeman and committeewoman shall represent said political party as members of the national committee of said party and shall be selected in each year in which a president and vice-president of the United States are elected, and such selection shall be made prior to the meeting of the national conventions of the respective political parties. The national com- mitteeman and committeewoman shall hold office for a term of four years. As amended by Chapter 159, Laws of 1925.
Section 664. Upon the passage and approval of this Act, the State Central Committee of each political party shall select a national com- mitteeman who shall hold office from the date of his selection until the year 1924, and until the selection of his successor.
Section 665. If any candidate for nomination shall be guilty of any wrongful or unlawful act or acts at a primary nominating election which would be sufficient, if such wrongful or unlawful act or acts had been done by such candidate at the regular general election, to cause his re- moval from office, he shall, upon conviction thereof, be removed from office in like manner as though such wrongful or unlawful act or acts had been committed at a regular general election, notwithstanding that he may have been regularly elected and shall not have been guilty of any wrongful or unlawful act at the election at which he shall have been elected to his office.
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Section 666. The candidates for the various State offices, and for the United States Senate, Representatives in Congress and the Legis- lative Assembly nominated by each political party at such primary, and Senators of such political party, whose term of office extends beyond the first Monday in January of the year next ensuing, and the members of the State Central Committee of such political party, shall meet at the call of the chairman of the State Central Committee not later than September fifteenth next preceding any general election. They shall forthwith formulate the State platform of their party. They shall there- upon proceed to elect a chairman of the State Central Committee and perform such other business as may properly be brought before such meeting.
Section 667. Any person who shall offer, or with knowledge of the same permit any person to offer for his benefit, any bribe to a voter to induce him to sign any nomination paper, and any person who shall accept any such bribe or promise of gain of any kind in the nature of a bribe as consideration for signing the same, whether such bribe or promise of gain in the nature of a bribe be offered or accepted before or after such signing, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon trial and conviction thereof be punished by a fine of not less than Twenty- five nor more than One Thousand Dollars, and by imprisonment in the county jail of not less than ten days nor more than six months.
Section 668. Any act declared an offense by the general laws of this State concerning caucuses, primaries and elections shall also, in like case, be an offense in and as to all primaries as herein defined, and shall be punished in the same form and manner as therein provided, and all the penalties and provisions of the law as to such caucuses, primaries and elections, except as herein otherwise provided, shall apply in such case with equal force, and to the same extent as though fully set forth in this Act.
Section 669. Any person who shall forge any name of a signer or a witness to a nomination paper shall be guilty of forgery, and on convic- tion punished accordingly. Any person who, being in possession of nomi- nation papers entitled to be filed under this Act, or any Act of the Legislature, shall wrongfully either suppress, neglect or fail to cause the same to be filed at the proper time in the proper office, shall, on conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
Section 670. The provisions of the laws of this State now in force in relation to the holding of elections, the solicitation of voters at the polls, the challenging of voters, the manner of conducting elections, of counting the ballots and making return thereof, the appointment and compensation of officers of election, and all other kindred subjects, shall apply to all primaries, insofar as they are consistent with this Act, the intent of this Act being to place the primary under the regulation and protection of the laws now in force as to elections.
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BALLOTS. PREPARATION AND FORM
Section 677. All ballots cast in elections for public offices within the State (except school district officers), must be printed and distributed at public expense as provided in this chapter. The printing of ballots and cards of instruction for the elections in each county, and the delivery of the same to the election officer is a county charge, and the expense thereof must be paid in the same manner as the payment of other county expenses, but the expense of printing and delivering the ballots must, in the case of municipal elections, be a charge upon the city or town in which such election is held.
Section 678. Except as in this chapter otherwise provided, it is the duty of the County Clerk of each county to provide printed ballots for every election for public officers in which electors or any of the electors within the county participate, and to cause to be printed in the ballot the name of every candidate whose name has been certified to or filed with the County Clerk in the manner provided for in this chapter. Ballots other than those printed by the respective County Clerks according to the provisions of this chapter must not be cast or counted in any election. Any elector may write or paste on his ballot the name of any person for whom he desires to vote for any office, and must mark the same as pro- vided in section 696, and such vote must be counted the same as if printed upon the ballot and marked by the voter, and any voter may take with him into the polling place any printed or written memorandum or paper to assist him in marking or preparing his ballot except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
Section 679. In all municipal elections the City Clerk must perform all the duties prescribed for County Clerks in this chapter.
Section 680. When any vacancy occurs before election day and after the printing of the ballots, and any person is nominated according to the provisions of this code to fill such vacancy, the officer whose duty it is to have the ballots printed and distributed must thereupon have printed a requisite number of pasters containing the name of the new nominee, and must mail them by registered letter to the judges of election in the various precincts interested in such election, and the judges of election, whose duty it is made by the provisions of this chapter to distribute the ballots, must affix such pasters over the name for which substitution is made in the proper place on each ballot before it is given out to the elector.
Section 681. Ballots prepared under the provisions of this chapter must be white in color and of a good quality of paper, and the names must be printed thereon in black ink. The ballots used in any one county must be uniform in size, and every ballot must contain the names of every candidate whose nomination for any special office specified in the ballot has been certified or filed according to the provisions of law, and no other names. The list of candidates of the several parties shall be placed in separate columns of the ballot, in such order as the authori- ties charged with the printing of the ballots shall decide. As near as possible the ballot shall be in the following form: (Stub hereinafter provided for in this section.)
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Perforated Line
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN LABOR PARTY
|
For Governor 1 1 1 1 Joseph K. Toole 1 1 LJ |
For Governor 1 1 1 1 John E. Richards 1 ! LJ |
For Governor r 1 Fred Whiteside LJ |
|
For Lieut.-Governor 1 1 1 1 Frank C. Higgins 1 For Secretary of State 1 1 Geo. M. Hayes |
For Lieut.-Governor 1 1 1 1 AlexC. Botkin 1 1 l_l |
For Lieut.-Governor 1 1 1 f I LJ |
|
For Secretary of State 1 1 I 1 Louis Rotwitt |
For Secretary of State 1 1 j 1 W. R. Allen |
And continuing in like manner as to all candidates to be voted for at such election.
Section 682. Every ballot must also contain the name of the party, or principle, w^hich the candidates in the respective columns represent, as contained in the certificates of nomination; provided, however, that where any person is nominated for the same office by more than one party or convention, his name shall be placed upon the ticket under the designation of the party which first nominated him, unless he declines, in writing, one or more of such nominations, or by written election indicates the party designation under which he desires his name to be printed, or if he was nominated by more than one party or convention at the same time shall, within the time fixed by law for filing certificates of nomination, file with the officer with whom his certificate of nomina- tion is required to be filed a written election indicating the party desig- nation under which he desires his name to be printed on the ballot, and it shall be so printed. If he shall fail or neglect to so file such an election, the officer with whom the certificate of nomination is required to be filed shall place his name under the designation of either of the parties by which he was nominated, but under no other designation whatever, and no person, who has been nominated by petition or other- wise, shall have his name printed upon the ticket if the same already ap- pears under a party designation.
Section 683. Below the names of candidates for each office there must be left a blank space large enough to contain as many written names of candidates as there are persons to be elected. There must be a margin on each side of at least half an inch in width, and a reasonable space between the names printed thereon, so that the voter rtiay clearly
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indicate, in the way hereinaftei- provided, the candidate or candidates for whom he wishes to cast his ballot.
Section 684. The ballot shall be printed on the same leaf with a stub, and separated therefrom by a perforated line. The part above the perforated line, designated as the stub, shall extend the entire width of the ballot, and shall be of sufficient depth to allow the following instruc- tions to voters to be printed thereon, such depth to be not less than two inches from the perforated line to the top thereof, upon the face of which stub shall be printed, in type known as brevier capitals, the following: "This ballot should be marked with an 'X' in the square before the name of each person or candidate for whom the elector intends to vote. In cases of a ballot containing a constitutional amendment, or other question to be submitted to a vote of the people by marking an 'X' in the square before the answer of the question or amendment submitted. The elector may write in the blank spaces, or paste over another name, the name of any person for whom he wishes to vote, and vote for such person by marking an 'X' in the square before such name." On the back of the stub shall be printed or stamped by the County Clerk, or other officer whose duty it is to provide the ballots, the consecutive number of the ballot, beginning with number "1," and increasing in regular numeri- cal order to the total number of ballots required for the precinct.
Section 685. All of the official ballots of the same sort, prepared by any officer or board for the same balloting place, shall be of precisely the same size, arrangement, quality and tint of paper, and kind of type, and shall be printed in black ink of the same tint, so that when the stubs, numbered as aforesaid, shall be detached therefrom it shall be impossible to distinguish any one of the ballots from the other ballots of the same sort, and the names of all candidates printed upon the ballot shall be in type of the same size and character.
Section 686. Whenever the Secretary of State has duly certified to the County Clerk any question to be submitted to the vote of the people, the County Clerk must print the ballot in such form as will enable the electors to vote upon the question so presented in the manner pro- vided by law. The County Clerk must also prepare the necessary ballots whenever any question is required by law to be submitted to the electors of any locality, and any of the electors of the State generally, except that as to all questions submitted to the electors of a municipal corpor- ation alone the City Clerk must prepare the necessary ballots.
Section 687. The County Clerk must provide for each election pre- cinct in the county ten more than an equal number of ballots as there are electors registered in the precinct. If there is no registry in the pre- cinct, the County Clerk must provide ballots equal to the number of electors who voted at the last preceding election in the precinct, unless in the judgment of the County Clerk a greater number be needed, but in no case to exceed one and one-half times as many as the number of registered voters in the precinct. He must keep a record in his office, showing the exact number of ballots, that are delivered to the judges of each precinct. In municipal elections it is the duty of the City Clerk to provide ballots as specified in this section. As amended by Chapter 16, Laws of 1925.
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CONDUCTING ELECTIONS: THE POLLS, VOTING AND
CHALLENGES
Section 688. Voting may commence as soon as the polls are open, and may be continued during all the time the polls remain open.
Section 689. The polls must be opened at 8 o'clock on the morning of election day, and must be kept open continuously until 6 o'clock in the afternoon of said day, when the same must be closed.
Section 690. Before the judges receive any ballots they must cause it to be proclaimed aloud at the place of election that the polls are open, and thirty minutes before the closing of the polls proclamation must be made that the polls will close in one-half hour.
Section 691. When polls are closed, that fact must be proclaimed aloud at the place of election; and after such proclamation no ballots must be received.
Section 692. All officers upon whom is imposed by law the duty of designating the polling-places must provide in each polling-place desig- nated by them, a sufficient number of places, booths, or compartments, each booth or compartment to be furnished with a door or curtain suf- ficient in character to screen the voter from observation, and must be furnished with such supplies and conveniences as shall enable the elector to prepare his ballot for voting, and in which electors must mark their ballots, screened from observation, and a guard-rail so constructed that only persons within such rail can approach within ten feet of the ballot- boxes, or the places, booths, or compartments herein provided for. The number of such places, booths, or compartments must not be less than one for every fifty electors, or fraction thereof, registered in the precinct. In precincts containing less than twenty-five registered voters, the elec- tion may be conducted under the provisions of this chapter without the preparation of such booths or compartments, as required by this section.
Section 693. No person other than electors engaged in receiving, preparing, or depositing their ballots, or a person present for the purpose of challenging the vote of an elector about to cast his ballot, is permitted to be within said rail; and in cases of small precincts where places, booths, or compartments are not required, no person engaged in prepar- ing his ballot shall, in any way, be interfered with by any person, unless it be some one authorized by the provisions of this chapter to assist him in preparing his ballot; nor shall any officer of election do any elec- tioneering on election day. No person whatsoever shall do any electioneer- ing on election day, within any polling-place, or any building in which an election is being held, or within twenty-five feet thereof; said space of twenty-five feet to be protected by ropes and kept free of trespassers; nor shall any person obstruct the doors or entries thereto, or prevent free ingress to and egress from said building. Any election officer, sheriff, constable, or other peace officer is hereby authorized and empowered, and it is hereby made his duty, to clear the passageway, and prevent such obstruction, and to arrest any person so doing. No person shall remove any ballot from the polling-place before the closing of the polls. No person shall show his ballot after it is marked, to any person, in such a
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way as to reveal the contents thereof, or the name of the candidate or candidates for whom he has marked his vote; nor shall any person solicit the elector to show the same; nor shall any person, except the judge of election, receive from any elector a ballot prepared for voting. No elector shall receive a ballot from any other person than one of the judges of election having charge of the ballots; nor shall any person other than such judge of election deliver a ballot to such elector. No elector shall vote, or offer to vote, any ballot except such as he has received from the judges of election having charge of the ballots. No elector shall place any mark upon his ballot by which it may afterwards be identified as the one voted by him. Every elector who does not vote a ballot de- livered to him by the judges of election having charge of the ballots, shall, before leaving the polling-place, i-eturn such ballot to such judges.
Section 694. The expense of providing such places or compart- ments, ropes, and guard-rails is a public charge, and must be provided for in the same manner as the other election expenses.
Section 695. At any election the judges of election must designate two of their number whose duty it is to deliver ballots to the qualified electors. Before delivering any ballot to an elector, the said judges must print on the back, and near the top of the ballot, with the rubber or other stamp provided for the purpose, the designation "official ballot" and the other words on same, as provided for in Section 603 of this Code; and the clerks must enter on the poll-lists the name of such elector and the number of the stub attached to the ballot given him. Each qualified elector must be entitled to receive from the judges one ballot.
Section 696. On receipt of his ballot the elector must forthwith, without leaving the polling-place and within the guard-rail provided, and alone, retire to one of the places, booths, or compartments, if such are provided, and prepare his ballot. He shall prepare his ballot by marking an "X" in the square before the name of the person or persons for whom he intends to vote. In case of a ballot containing a constitutional amendment, or other question to be submitted to the vote of the people, by marking an "X" in the square before the answer of the question or amendment submitted. The elector may write in the blank spaces or paste over any other name the name of any person for whom he wishes to vote, and vote for such person by marking an "X" before such name. No elector is at liberty to use or bring into the polling-place any unofficial sample ballot. After preparing his ballot the elector must fold it so the face of the ballot will be concealed and so that the endorsement stamped thereon may be seen, and hand the same to the judges in charge of the ballot-box, who shall announce the name of the elector and the printed or stamped number on the stub of the official ballot so delivered to him, in a loud and distinct tone of voice. If such elector be entitled then and there to vote, and if such printed or stamped number is the same as that entered on the poll-list as the number on the stub of the official ballot last delivered to him by the ballot judge, such judge shall receive such ballot, and, after removing the stub there- from in plain sight of the elector, and without removing any other part of the ballot, or in any way exposing any part of the face thereof below
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the stub, shall deposit each ballot in the proper ballot-box for the recep- tion of voted ballots, and the stubs in a box for detached ballot stubs. Upon voting, the elector shall forthwith pass outside the guard-rail, unless he be one of the persons authorized to remain within the guard- rail for other purposes than voting.
Section 697. No more than one person must be allowed to occupy any one booth at one time, and no person must remain in or occupy a booth longer than may be necessary to prepare his ballot, and in no event longer than five minutes, if the other booths or compartments are occupied.
Section 698. Any elector who by accident or mistake spoils his ballot, may, on returning said spoiled ballot, receive another in place thereof.
Section 699. Any elector who declares to the judges of election, or when it appears to the judges of election that he cannot read or write, or that because of blindness or other physical disability he is unable to mark his ballot, but for no other cause, must, upon request, receive the assistance of two of the judges, who shall represent different parties, in the marking thereof, and such judges must certify on the outside thereof that it was so marked with their assistance, and must there- after give no information regarding the same. The judges must require such declaration of disability to be made by the elector under oath before them, and they are hereby authorized to administer the same. No elector other than the one who may, because of his inability to read or write, or of his blindness or physical disability, be unable to mark his ballot, must divulge to any one within the polling-place the name of any candidate for whom he intends to vote, or ask or receive the assistance of any person within the polling-place in the preparation of his ballot.
Section 700. The person offering to vote must hand his ballot to the judges, and announce his name, and in incorporated cities and towns any such person must also give the name of the street, avenue, or loca- tion of his residence, and the number thereof, if it be numbered, or such clear and definite description of the place of such residence as shall definitely fix the same.
Section 701. The judges must receive the ballot, and before deposit- ing it in the ballot-box must, in an audible tone of voice, announce the name, and in incorporated tovims and cities the judges must also an- nounce the residence of the person voting, and the same must be recorded on each poll-book.
Section 702. If the name be found on the official register in use at the precinct where the vote is offered, or if the person offering to vote produce and surrender a proper registry certificate, and the vote is not rejected, upon a challenge taken, the judges must immediately and publicly, in the presence of all the judges, place the ballot, without open- ing or examining the same, in the ballot-box.
Section 703. When the ballot has been placed in the box, one of the judges must write the word "Voted" opposite the number of the person on the check-list for the precinct.
Section 704. The judges of election in each precinct, at every gen- eral or special election, shall, in the precinct register book, which shall
ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA 71
be certified to them by the County Clerk, mark a cross (X) upon the line opposite to the name of the elector. Before any elector is permitted to vote, the judges of election shall require the elector to sign his name upon one of the precinct register books, designated by the County Clerk for that purpose, and in a column reserved in the said precinct books for the signature of electors. If the elector is not able to sign his name, he shall be required by the judges to produce two freeholders who shall make an affidavit before the judges of election, or one of them, in sub- stantially the following form:
STATE OF MONTANA. }
County of \
"We, the undersigned witnesses, do swear that our names and signa- tures are genuine, and that we are each personally acquainted with
(the name of the elector), and
that we know that he is residing at , and
that we believe that he is entitled to vote at this election, and that we are each freeholders in the county," which affidavit shall be filed by the judges, and returned by them to the County Clerk, with the return of the election; one of the judges shall thereupon write the elector's name, and note the fact of his inability to sign, and the names of the two freeholders who made the affidavit herein provided for. If the elector fails or refuses to sign his name, and, if unable to write, fails to procure two freeholders who will take the oath herein provided, he shall not be allowed to vote. Immediately after the election and canvass of the returns, the judges of election shall deliver to the County Clerk the copy of said official precinct register, sealed, with the election re- tui-ns and poll-book, which have been used at said election.
Section 705. Each clerk must keep a list of persons voting, and the name of each person who votes must be entered thereon and numbered in the order voting. Such list is known as the poll-list and forms a part of the poll-book of the precinct.
Section 706. Any person offering to vote may be orally challenged by any elector of the county, upon either or all of the following grounds:
1. That he is not the person whose name appears on the register or check-list.
2. That he is an idiot or insane person.
3. That he has voted before that day.
4. That he has been convicted of a felony and not pardoned.
Section 707. If the challenge is on the ground that he is not the person whose name appears on the official register, the judges must tender him the following oath:
"You do swear (or affirm) that you are the person whose name is entered on the official register and check-list."
Section 708. If the challenge is on the ground that the person challenged has voted before that day, the judges must tender to the person challenged this oath:
"You do swear (or affirm) that you have not before voted this day." Section 709. If the challenge is on the ground that the person
72 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
challenged has been convicted of a felony, the judges must tender him the following oath:
, "You do swear (or affirm) that you have not been convicted of a felony."
Section 710. Challenges upon the grounds either:
1. That the person challenged is not the person whose name appears on the official register; or
That the person has before voted that day, are determined in favor of the person challenged by his taking the oath tendered.
2. A challenge upon the ground that the person challenged has been convicted of a felony and not pardoned must be determined in favor of the person challenged on his taking the oath tendered, unless the fact of conviction be proved by the production of an authenticated copy of the record or by the oral testimony of two witnesses. If the person challenged asserts that he has been convicted of a felony and pardoned therefor, he must exhibit his pardon or a proper certified copy thereof to the judges, and if the pardon be found sufficient, the judges must tender to him the following oath: "You do swear that you have not been convicted of any felony other than that for which a pardon is now exhibited."
Upon taking this oath the person challenged must be permitted to vote if otherwise qualified, unless a conviction of some other felony be proved, as in this section provided for the proof of a conviction.
Section 711. Challenges for causes other than those specified in the preceding section must be tried and determined by the judges of election at the time of the challenge.
Section 712. If any person challenged refuses to take the oaths tendered, or refuses to be sworn and to answer the questions touching the matter of residence, he must not be allowed to vote.
Section 713. If the challenge is determined against the person offering to vote, the ballot must, without examination, be destroyed by the judges in the presence of the person offering the same; if determined in his favor, the ballot must be deposited in the ballot-box.
Section 714. The judges must cause each of the clerks to keep a list showing:
1. The names of all persons challenged.
2. The grounds of such challenges.
3. The determination of the judges upon the challenge.
VOTING BY ABSENT ELECTORS
Section 715. Any qualified elector of this State, having complied with the laws in regard to registration, who is absent from the county of which he is an elector on the day of holding any general or special election, or primary election for the nomination of candidates for such general election, or any municipal general, special, or primary election, may vote at any such election as hereinafter provided.
Section 716. At any time within thirty days next preceding such election, any voter expecting to be absent on the day of election from
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the county in which his voting precinct is situated may make applica- tion to the County Clerk of such county, or to the City or Town Clerk, in the case of a municipal general, special, or primary election, for an official ballot or official ballots to be voted at such election as an absent voter's ballot or ballots.
Section 717. Application for such ballots shall be made on a blank to be furnished by the County Clerk of the county of which the applicant is an elector, or the City or Town Clerk, if it be municipal, general, special, or primary election, and shall be in substantially the following form :
"I, , a duly qualified elector of the
Precinct, in the County of and State
of Montana, and am to the best of my knowledge and belief entitled to vote in such precinct in the next election, expecting to be absent from the said county on the day for holding such election, hereby make ap- plication for an official ballot to be voted by me at the said election.
Postoffice address to which ballot is to be mailed
STATE OF )
COUNTY OF i ^^*
On this day of , personally appeared
before me , who being first duly sworn,
deposes and says that he is the person who signed the foregoing applica- tion, that he has read and knows the contents of same and knows to his own knowledge the matters and things therein stated are true."
This application must be subscribed by the applicant and sworn to before some officer authorized to administer oaths, and the application shall not be deemed complete without his affidavit. As amended by Chapter 151, Laws of 1923.
Section 718. The voter making such application shall forward by mail or deliver in person the same to the County Clerk of the county in which he is registered and it shall be the duty of the said County Clerk to look up the applicant's registration card and compare the signature on the application for absent voter's ballot and the registration card and if convinced the person making the application for absent voter's ballot and the person who signed the original registration card is one and the same person, he shall accept the same in good faith and deliver the ballot as provided in Section 719. As amended by Chapter 151, Laws of 1923.
Section 719. Such application blank shall, upon request therefor, be sent by such County or City or Town Clerk to any elector of the county, by mail, and shall be delivered to any elector upon application made personally at the office of such County or City or Town Clerk; provided, however, that no elector shall be entitled to receive such a
74 ELECTION LAWS OF MONTANA
ballot on election day, nor unless his application is made to or received by the County or City or Town Clerk before the delivery of the official ballots to the judge of election.
Section 720. Upon receipt of such application, properly filled out and duly signed, or as soon thereafter as the official ballot for the precinct in which the applicant resides has been printed, the said County or City or Town Clerk shall send to such elector by mail, postage pre- paid, one official ballot, or if there be more than one ballot to be voted by an elector of such precinct, one of each kind, and shall enclose with such ballot or ballots an envelope, to be furnished by such County or City or Town Clerk, which envelope shall bear upon the front thereof the name, official title and postoffice address of such County or City or Town Clerk, and upon the other side a printed affidavit, in substantially the following form:
State of County of ss.
I, , do solemnly swear that I am a
resident of the precinct, (and if he be a resident
of a city or town, add: "Residing at , in the
town or city of ,") county of
and State of Montana, and entitled to vote in such precinct at the next election ; that I expect to be absent from the said county of my residence on the day of holding such election and that I will have no opportunity to vote in person on that day.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of
, 19 ; and I hereby certify that the
affiant exhibited to me the enclosed ballot or ballots for inspection be- fore marking, and that the same was (or were) then unmarked and that he then in my presence, and in the presence of no other person, and in such manner that I could not see his vote, marked said ballot (or ballots) and enclosed and sealed the same in this envelope. That the affiant was not solicited or advised by me to vote for or against any candidate or measure.
Section 721. Such voter shall make and subscribe the said affidavit before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths, and who has an official seal, and may do so at any place in the State of Montana, or in any other state or territory of the United States, before any officer authorized by the laws of this State to take acknowledgments of instru- ments without the state, and such voter shall thereupon, in the presence of such officer and of no other person, mark such ballot or ballots, but in such manner that such officer cannot see the vote, and such ballot or ballots thereupon, in the presence of such officer, shall be folded by such voter so that each ballot shall be separate, and so as to conceal the vote, and shall be, in the presence of such officer, placed in such envelope securely sealed veth mucilage and in addition thereto sealing wax in not less than two places thereon, the sealing wax to contain the impression of the official seal of the officer administering the oath.
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Said officer shall thereupon append his signature and official title and affix his seal at the end of said jurat and affidavit. Said envelope shall be mailed by such absent voter, postage prepaid, or delivered to the County or City or Town Clerk, as the case may be. As amended by Chap- ter 151, Laws of 1923.
Section 722. Upon receipt of such envelope, such County or City or Town Clerk shall forthwith enclose the same, unopened, together with the written application of such absent voter in a larger envelope, which shall be securely sealed and endorsed with the name of the proper voting precinct, the name and official title of such clerk, and the words "This envelope contains an absent voter ballot and must be opened only on election day at the polls when the same are open," and such clerk shall safely keep the same in his office until the same is delivered or mailed by him as provided in the next section.
Section 723. In case such envelope is received by such clerk prior to the delivery of the official ballots to a judge of election of the precinct in which such absent voter resides, said larger envelope, containing the said voter's envelope and his said application, as above provided, shall be delivered to the judge of election of such precinct, to whom the official ballots of the precinct shall be delivered, and at the same time. In case the official ballots for such precinct shall have been delivered to the judge of election prior to the time of the receipt by the said clerk of said absent voter's envelope, such clerk shall immediately after enclosing such voter's envelope and his application in a larger envelope, and after endorsing the latter as provided in the foregoing section, address and mail the larger envelope, postage prepaid, to the said judge of election of said precinct, as hereinafter further provided.
Section 724. The ballot or ballots to be delivered or marked by such absent voter shall be one of the regular official ballots to be used at such election, and of each kind of such official ballots if there be more than one kind to be voted, beginning with ballot one and following consecutively, according to the number of applications for such absent voter ballots. The County or City or Town Clerk shall keep a record of all ballots so delivered for the purpose of absent voting, as well as of ballots, if any, marked before him as hereinafter provided, and shall make and deliver to the judge of election, to whom the ballots for the precinct are delivered, and at the time of the delivery of such ballots, a certificate stating the numbers of ballots delivered or mailed to absent voters, as well as those marked before him, if any, and the names of the voters to whom such ballots shall be delivered or mailed, or by whom they shall have been marked if marked before him.
Section 725. The judges of election, at the opening of the polls, shall note on the poll-lists when one is required by law to be kept, op- posite the numbers corresponding to the numbers of the ballots issued to absent voters, as shown by the certificate of the County or City or Town Clerk, the fact that such ballots were issued to absent voters, and shall reserve said numbers for the absent voters. The notation may be made by writing the words "Absent Voters" opposite such numbers.
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The judges shall not allow any names to be inserted in the poll-list on the lines corresponding to said numbers, except the name of the elector entitled to each particular number according to the certificate of the County or City or Town Clerk, and the number of his ballot. Any so rejected shall be placed together with the voter's application and the absent voter's envelope provided for the purpose by the Clerk and Re- corder or City or Town Clerk which shall be sealed and endorsed by the
words, "Rejected absent voter ballots" numbered ,
and shall put thereon the number of the ballots given to absent voters according to the County or City or Town Clerk's certificate. There shall be a separate enclosing envelope for the ballot or ballots of each absent voter whose ballot or ballots may have been rejected, and such envelopes shall be placed in an envelope together with the other ballots, and shall not be opened without order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
Section 726. Any