Generally revise election law
SB 470 revises Montana's election judge selection and notification procedures. It requires election administrators to notify county central committees when judges are permanently removed for violations or disruption, establishes a complaint process for committees if notifications are missed, and mandates that election boards include representatives from all political parties that submitted lists, with no single party holding a simple majority. The bill also updates training requirements, including certificate rules and requiring non-affiliated candidates to state party preference during training. This bill, which died in process in May 2025, directly affects county election administrators, central committees, and election judges.
Bill status
died
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 25, 2025
Last action May 23, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
LC0375.pdf
→
SB0470_1.pdf
·
2 edits
MINOR
The bill number was officially changed from LC 375 to SB 470, and the sponsor was identified as D. Zolnikov. A new requirement was added mandating that every election judge must receive a certificate of completion after training and cannot serve without this current certificate.
TECHNICAL
The bill number was updated from LC 375 to SB 470, and the sponsor's name was added.
REQUIREMENT
A new requirement was added stating that election judges must be issued a certificate of completion upon finishing training and cannot serve unless they hold a current certificate.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 6, 2025
How they voted
40–10
Passed
Total votes 50
Mar 6, 2025
D
Democratic18
100% Yea
R
Republican32
68% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
23
Key actions
3
Committee
3
Mar 6, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (40-10)
senate
Mar 5, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) State Administration
upper
Mar 4, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) State Administration
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) State Administration
upper
Feb 25, 2025
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Daniel Zolnikov
RRepublican
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