Senate bill NO. 86

INTRODUCED BY S. Morigeau

By Request of the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT LIMITING THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED VOTERS IN EACH ELECTION PRECINCT; AND AMENDING SECTION 13-3-101, MCA.

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

Section 1. Section 13-3-101, MCA, is amended to read:

"13-3-101. Establishment of election precincts. (1) The territorial unit for elections is the election precinct. All election precincts shall must be designated by numbers, names, or both.

(2)        The governing body of each county shall establish a convenient number of election precincts, equalizing the number of electors in each precinct as nearly as possible. A precinct may not contain more than 2,500 registered voters. This subsection may only be applied at the time a county governing body revises precinct boundaries pursuant to 13-3-102, and except as provided in subsection (3), it may not be otherwise construed to require a county governing body to revise the boundaries of precincts more frequently due to fluctuations of registered voters within the precinct between districting and apportionment plans adopted under Article V, section 14, of the Montana constitution.

(3)          If fluctuations in the number of registered voters result in a precinct with 3,750 or more registered voters, the governing body shall adjust the precinct boundaries to contain 2,500 or fewer registered voters. If the governing body is required to make an adjustment to a precinct boundary pursuant to this subsection, the governing body is not required to make the adjustment during a year in which a federal election is scheduled but shall make the adjustment in the next year during which there is not a regularly scheduled federal election."