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Committee moves SB 222 and advances an interim study on moving Montana’s primary election date
Summary
Members voted to take Senate Bill 222 from the table and concur in it, and staff presented a draft interim study to investigate whether Montana should move its primary election date, including impacts on districting, school elections and election administrators.
Representative Tillman moved to take Senate Bill 222 from the table; the committee voted to do so and then concurred in the bill on a roll call. Staff read the bill title and the committee advanced SB 222 to the next step in the process.
Immediately after, committee staff (Rebecca Power) presented a draft interim study on moving the date of the Montana primary election. Power said she did not prescribe a new date but outlined study tasks: review existing deadlines and procedures that would change with a new primary date, analyze conflicts with the decennial districting process, examine impacts on election administrators and voters, and identify potential consolidation opportunities or statutory changes needed to implement a date change.
Power listed stakeholders to consult — county and state election officials, tribal governments, school administrators and other local governments — and set an internal drafting timeline tied to the April 22 study-resolutions deadline. Representative Worth asked staff to include historical context about prior attempts to change the date and to document impacts on school election sites. The committee signaled consensus to move forward on the study draft and authorized staff to finalize the language for next-week consideration.
