---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise governor's power to suspend election laws during emergency"
description: "Revise governor's power to suspend election laws during emergency"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 429"
citation: "Montana HB 429 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections (see also: Ballot Issues)", "Emergency and Disaster Services", "Legislature", "State Government"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Llew Jones"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 45
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-04-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/45cab6bb-f13b-44b8-ab72-5701c770dfd1"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=429&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=HB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20211"
source_hash: "4918ff3840860750b734b7ccec32d56e721a01e9722a366bd55a7ee06ed8e55a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-mt"]
---

# Montana HB 429 (2021) — Revise governor's power to suspend election laws during emergency

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB0429_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/HB0499//HB0429_1.pdf)
2. **HB0429_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/HB0499//HB0429_X.pdf)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billpdf/HB0429.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Concur — **31–19** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **31–19** (pass) · upper
- DO PASS — **12–7** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **71–27** (pass) · lower
- BE CONCURRED IN — **5–3** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **71–28** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Llew Jones — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-11** Draft Request Received
- **2021-02-10** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2021-02-10** Draft in Legal Review
- **2021-02-10** Draft in Edit
- **2021-02-12** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2021-02-13** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2021-02-15** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2021-02-15** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2021-02-15** Executive Director Review
- **2021-02-15** Draft in Assembly
- **2021-02-15** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-02-15** Executive Director Final Review
- **2021-02-15** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-02-16** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2021-02-16** Introduced `introduction`
- **2021-02-16** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2021-02-16** Referred to Committee - (H) State Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-02-18** Hearing Canceled - (H) State Administration
- **2021-02-19** Hearing - (H) State Administration
- **2021-02-22** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed - (H) State Administration `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-22** Committee Report--Bill Passed - (H) State Administration `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-24** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-02-24** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-25** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-02-25** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-25** Transmitted to Senate
- **2021-02-26** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-02-26** Referred to Committee - (S) State Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-31** Hearing - (S) State Administration
- **2021-04-09** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred - (S) State Administration
- **2021-04-12** Committee Report--Bill Concurred - (S) State Administration
- **2021-04-14** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-04-15** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-04-15** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2021-04-15** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-15** Returned to House
- **2021-04-19** Sent to Enrolling
- **2021-04-26** Returned from Enrolling
- **2021-04-26** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2021-04-27** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-04-28** Signed by President
- **2021-04-28** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-30** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-30** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/45cab6bb-f13b-44b8-ab72-5701c770dfd1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).