2020 Election

The 2020 election season officially kicked off with the opening of candidate filling at 8 a.m. on January 9th. Locally, two county positions are up for election. These positions are the county commissioner for District #2 and the clerk of court/superintendent of schools. Declaration of Nomination forms and supporting information for these county positions are available at the Carter County Clerk and Recorder's Office, 214 Park Street at Ekalaka, Montana.

All candidates for statewide or state district offices (including legislative offices, PSC and judicial offices) must file their declarations and pay the filing fee with the Secretary of State office. Filing information and the Secretary of State's online candidate filing system for statewide candidates can be accessed from the candidate filing webpage at http://sos.mt.gov/Elections/Filing/indes.asp.

Pursuant to 12-10-201, MCA, in a partisan election, an individual may not file a Declaration of Nomination or a Declaration of Intent for more than one political party. A candidate may not file for more than one public office (not including precinct committeemen and committeewomen). Both Carter County positions up for election in 2020 are partisan. Filing fees are calculated per 13-10-202, MCA (2) for county offices having an annual salary of more than $2,500, 0.5 percent of the total annual salary. The filing fee for commissioner District #2 will be $166.53; the fee for the clerk of district court/superintendent of schools is $278.24.

Generally the qualification of a candidate for office is set out in 7-4-2201 MCA: (1) of the voting age required by the Montana constitution; (2) a citizen of the state; and (3) (a) elector of the county in which the duties of the office are to be exercised; or (b) in the case of an office consolidated between two or more counties, an elector in one of the counties in which the duties of the office are to be exercised. The county commissioner candidates must have lived in the appropriate district for at least two years immediately prior to the election of the candidate, 7-4-2106 (ii) MCA.

In addition to the two local positions up for election, there will be filings for precinct committee men and women for the Democratic and Republican Parties, State Senator District #19 and State Representative District #37.

Other positions up for election in 2020 include: President and Vice President, United States Representative, Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Auditor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Public Service Commissioner, Supreme Court Justice and District Court Judge for the 16th Judicial Court.