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Committee hears SB105 to restrict campaign activity near early-vote satellite locations
Summary
Witnesses and the sponsor said SB105 would extend electioneering prohibitions to times and places used for obtaining or casting ballots during early voting and satellite polling; COPP offered alternative language to limit prohibitions to hours when ballots may be obtained or cast to avoid banning community events.
Senate Bill 105 returned to the House State Administration committee for a public hearing focused on whether Montana's electioneering rules should apply to early‑vote satellite locations.
Senator Windiboy, sponsor of SB105, told the committee she brought the bill after experiencing campaign material handed out at a satellite voting location on Oct. 9. She described the effect as an unfair advantage and said the bill aims to "keep the cheaters out, keep them honest." Proponents including Keaton Sunchild of Western Native Voice and Patrick Kawaki, representing Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy communities, said the bill would reduce confusion for candidates and voters by clarifying when and where electioneering is prohibited.
Shelly Hendrickson Scott of the Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP) answered committee questions and described an alternative she had drafted. Scott said she recommended language that would prohibit electioneering only "during the hours that you can obtain or vote a ballot" at locations where ballots are obtained or cast, rather than broadly banning campaign activity near community centers during weeks of early voting. The COPP proposal was described as intended to avoid unintended consequences that could restrict legitimate community events held in a location that also serves as a satellite polling site.
Committee members pressed witnesses on definitions — including what constitutes "in‑person absentee" voting and how satellite polling locations operate — and heard that some satellite sites open weeks before election day (witnesses said they can open at least 45 days before the election). Senator Windiboy said she would present the COPP's language as an amendment when the bill reaches the House.
The committee heard no formal motion or vote on SB105 in the transcript; the hearing was closed after the sponsor's closing remarks.
