House panel approves bill letting countywide judges staff school elections

The Montana House State Administration Committee voted in executive action to approve House Bill 125, a measure to let county election administrators use trained election judges from anywhere in the county — not just from the school district — when administering school elections.

Ms. Power, committee staff, explained the measure to the committee, saying, “this is a bill from Representative Beatty that, changes that when an election administrator conducts a school election, they can use trained election judges from anywhere within the county, not just the school district. So increasing the pool that they can pull from.” The committee moved to a voice vote after brief discussion and the chair announced the bill passed.

Nut graf: Supporters said HB125 expands the available pool of trained judges for school elections, a point proponents argue will ease staffing challenges for local election offices. No formal roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript; the committee approved the bill by voice vote.

Committee members proceeded directly from executive action into the day's hearings following the vote. The committee clerk confirmed the motion and the chair closed executive action on HB125.

Ending: The transcript records only the voice vote and the chair's announcement that House Bill 125 “passes.” The meeting moved on to further executive action and hearings immediately after the vote.