_____________ bill NO. _____________

INTRODUCED BY _________________________________________________

By Request of the ****

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT REVISING ELECTIONEERING LAWS ON ELECTION DAY; PROHIBITING SIGNAGE IN SUPPORT OF OR AGAINST A CANDIDATE OR BALLOT ISSUE ON THE GROUNDS SURROUNDING A POLLING place; AMENDING SECTIONS 13-35-211 AND 13-35-218, MCA; and PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. Section 13-35-211, MCA, is amended to read:

"13-35-211. Electioneering -- soliciting information from electors -- signage. (1) A person may not do any electioneering on election day within any polling place or any building in which an election is being held or within 100 feet of any entrance to on the grounds surrounding the building in which the polling place is located that aids or promotes the success or defeat of any candidate or ballot issue to be voted upon at the election.

(2)        On election day, a candidate, a family member of a candidate, or a worker or volunteer for the candidate's campaign may not distribute alcohol, tobacco, food, drink, or anything of value to a voter within a polling place or a building in which an election is being held or within 100 feet of an entrance to on the grounds surrounding the building in which the polling place is located.

(3)        A person may not buy, sell, give, wear, or display at or about the polls on an election day any badge, button, or other insignia that is designed or tends to aid or promote the success or defeat of any candidate or ballot issue to be voted upon at the election.

(4)        A person may not place signage of any kind, including mobile billboards and signage on vehicles, in support of or against a candidate or ballot issue in the building, on the grounds surrounding the building, or in the parking lot outside a polling place on election day.

(4)(5)     A person within a polling place or any building in which an election is being held may not solicit from an elector, before or after the elector has marked a ballot and returned it to an election judge, information as to whether the elector intends to vote or has voted for or against a candidate or ballot issue."

Section 2. Section 13-35-218, MCA, is amended to read:

"13-35-218. Coercion or undue influence of voters -- signage. (1) A person, directly or indirectly, individually or through any other person, in order to induce or compel a person to vote or refrain from voting for any candidate, the ticket of any political party, or any ballot issue before the people, may not:

(a)        use or threaten to use any force, coercion, violence, restraint, or undue influence against any person; or

(b)        inflict or threaten to inflict, individually or with any other person, any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm, or loss upon or against any person.

(2)        A person may not, by abduction, duress, or any fraudulent contrivance, impede or prevent the free exercise of the franchise by any voter at any election or compel, induce, or prevail upon any elector to give or to refrain from giving the elector's vote at any election.

(3)        A person may not, in any manner, interfere with a voter lawfully exercising the right to vote at an election in order to prevent the election from being fairly held and lawfully conducted.

(4)        A person on election day may not obstruct the doors or entries of any polling place or engage in any solicitation of a voter within the room where votes are being cast or elsewhere in any manner that in any way interferes with the election process or obstructs the access of voters to or from the polling place.

(5)        A person may not place signage of any kind, including mobile billboards and signage on vehicles, in support of or against a candidate or ballot issue, in the building, on the grounds surrounding the building, or in the parking lot outside a polling place."

NEW SECTION. Section 3. Severability. If a part of [this act] is invalid, all valid parts that are severable from the invalid part remain in effect. If a part of [this act] is invalid in one or more of its applications, the part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications.

NEW SECTION. Section 4. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.