Montana Statutes § 13-15-403 Canvass to be public - nonessentials to be disregarded - petition for recountVersion dated Oct. 30, 2024

(1) The canvass must be public. It must proceed by opening the returns, auditing the tally books or other records of votes cast, determining the vote for each individual and for and against each ballot issue from each precinct, compiling totals, and declaring or certifying the results.

(2) The board shall record all write-in votes shown in the returns from each precinct.

(3) The returns may not be rejected because of failure to show who administered the oath to the election judges, failure to complete all the certificates in a pollbook, or failure of any other act making up the returns that is not essential to determine for whom the votes were cast.

(4) If during a canvass the board finds an error in a precinct or precincts affecting the accuracy of vote totals, the board immediately may petition for a recount of the votes cast in the precinct or precincts, as provided in 13-16-201 , or for an inspection of ballots, as provided in 13-16-420 .