13-15-107. Handling and counting provisional and challenged ballots. - Montana Statutes

     13-15-107. Handling and counting provisional and challenged ballots. (1) To verify eligibility to vote, a provisionally registered elector who casts a provisional ballot has until 5 p.m. on the day after the election to provide valid identification or eligibility information either in person, by facsimile, by electronic means, or by mail postmarked no later than the day after the election.
     (2) (a) If a legally registered elector casts a provisional ballot because the elector failed to provide sufficient identification as required pursuant to 13-13-114(1)(a), the election administrator shall compare the signature of the elector or the elector's agent designated pursuant to 13-1-116 on the affirmation required under 13-13-601 to the signature on the elector's voter registration card or the agent's designation form.
     (b) If the signatures match, the election administrator shall handle the ballot as provided in subsection (5).
     (c) If the signatures do not match and the elector or the elector's agent fails to provide valid identification information by the deadline, the ballot must be rejected and handled as provided in 13-15-108.
     (3) A provisional ballot must be counted if the election administrator verifies the elector's identity or eligibility pursuant to rules adopted under 13-13-603. However, if the election administrator cannot verify the elector's identity or eligibility under the rules, the elector's provisional ballot must be rejected and handled as provided in 13-15-108. If the ballot is provisional because of a challenge and the challenge was made on the grounds that the elector is of unsound mind or serving a felony sentence in a penal institution, the elector's provisional ballot must be counted unless the challenger provides documentation by 5 p.m. on the day after the election that a court has established that the elector is of unsound mind or that the elector has been convicted and sentenced and is still serving a felony sentence in a penal institution.
     (4) The election administrator shall provide an elector who cast a provisional ballot but whose ballot was not counted with the reasons why the ballot was not counted.
     (5) A provisional ballot must be removed from its provisional envelope, grouped with other ballots in a manner that allows for the secrecy of the ballot to the greatest extent possible, and counted as any other provisional ballot if the elector's voter information is:
     (a) verified before 5 p.m. on the day after the election; or
     (b) postmarked by 5 p.m. on the day after election day and received and verified by 3 p.m. on the sixth day after the election.
     (6) Provisional ballots that are not resolved by the end of election day may not be counted until after 3 p.m. on the sixth day after the election.

     History: En. Sec. 36, Ch. 475, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 286, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 586, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 22, Ch. 273, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 17, Ch. 2, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 27, Ch. 297, L. 2009.