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HELENA, Mont. — Tuesday evening was the deadline for independent and minor party candidates to submit signed petitions to county election administrators across Montana, triggering the process for election officials to verify signatures and certify the total numbers to determine if candidates may appear on the November General Election ballot.
During Montana’s candidate filing period, six candidates filed as independent candidates – one for U.S. Senate, two for U.S. Representative, and three for state representative legislative seats. Montana law outlines the signature requirements that each candidate must receive (13-10-502, MCA).
County election officials will continue verifying signatures received by Tuesday’s deadline and must submit the candidate petitions to the Secretary of State’s Office by June 1st, which is when the Secretary of State’s Office will conduct its review for the necessary statutory requirements.
The deadline for the November General Election ballot to be certified is Thursday, August 20.
Unofficial signature updates that counties had processed for the six filed candidates as of Tuesday’s deadline are below:
- Seth Bodnar, U.S. Senate (13,327 required)
- 11,359 accepted; 4,196 rejected
- Kimberly Persico, 1st Congressional (6,742 required)
- 562 accepted; 156 rejected
- Michael Eisenhauer, 2nd Congressional (7,274 required)
- 7,010 accepted; 4,210 rejected
- Jason Wilson, House District 37 (187 Required)
- No signatures currently reported
- Shayne Morgan, House District 76 (198 required)
- 199 accepted; 39 rejected
- Kelley Durbin-Williams, House District 90 (215 Required)
- No signatures currently reported
The attached report is unofficial. It includes totals that the county election officials have processed and entered in the system. These totals do not represent what the Secretary of State’s Office has received, reviewed, tabulated, or certified. The certified totals may differ from what is reflected.