13-15-201. Preparation for count. - Montana Statutes

     13-15-201. Preparation for count. (1) Subject to 13-10-311, to prepare for a manual or automatic count of ballots, the counting board or, if appointed, the absentee counting board shall take ballots out of the box to determine whether each ballot is single.
     (2) An absentee ballot must be rejected and handled as provided in 13-15-108 if the envelope contains more than one voted ballot for each election.
     (3) The board shall count all ballots to ensure that the total number of ballots corresponds with the total number of names in the pollbook.
     (4) If the board cannot reconcile the total number of ballots with the pollbook, the board shall submit to the election administrator a written report stating how many ballots were missing or in excess and any reason of which they are aware for the discrepancy. Each judge on the board shall sign the report.
     (5) A ballot that is not marked as official is void and may not be counted unless all judges on the board agree that the marking is missing because of an error by election officials, in which case the ballot must be marked "unmarked by error" on the back and must be initialed by all judges.
     (6) If two or more ballots are folded or stuck together to look like a single ballot, they must be laid aside until the count is complete. The counting board shall compare the count with the pollbooks, and if a majority believes that the ballots folded together were voted by one elector, the ballots must be rejected and handled as provided in 13-15-108, otherwise they must be counted.

     History: En. Sec. 172, Ch. 368, L. 1969; R.C.M. 1947, 23-4002; amd. Sec. 152, Ch. 571, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 242, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 55, Ch. 414, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 16, Ch. 286, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 23, Ch. 273, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 54, Ch. 56, L. 2009.