HB 167 revises Montana election law to remove the requirement that absentee voter lists be posted at polling locations. Under current law, election administrators must prepare a certificate listing absentee ballot information, and the chief election judge must post the names of electors appearing on that certificate in a conspicuous location at the polling place. The bill eliminates that posting requirement while leaving in place the underlying recordkeeping and pollbook notation procedures for absentee ballots.
The measure also makes conforming changes to related sections governing how election judges mark pollbooks and reserve ballot numbers for late absentee voters. It takes effect immediately upon passage and approval, meaning counties and election administrators must implement the change without delay for the 2025 election cycle and beyond.
Impact
HB 167 amends sections 13-13-233 and 13-13-234 of the Montana Code Annotated. Its practical effect is to reduce the amount of absentee-voter information displayed at polling places, while preserving election administrators’ duty to maintain records of absentee ballots and election judges’ duty to note absentee ballot issuance in the pollbook. The bill affects county election offices, chief election judges, poll workers, and voters who cast absentee ballots, and it changes election-day transparency practices at polling locations.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been generally supported and moved through the Legislature with broad approval, especially in the House where it passed unanimously at committee and on the floor. In the Senate, it still advanced, but with more opposition than in the House, suggesting some concern about the policy change even though it ultimately secured concurrence. The absence of committee transcript material limits a more detailed read on debate, but the voting pattern indicates overall favorable sentiment with some divided views in the Senate.
Contention
The main point of contention is the removal of the requirement to publicly post absentee voter lists at polling places. Supporters likely view the change as a privacy or administrative improvement, reducing unnecessary disclosure of voter information, while opponents may see it as reducing transparency or making it harder to monitor absentee voting practices. The Senate votes, which were not unanimous, suggest that concerns about election transparency or voter access to information were the primary sources of disagreement.