---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise laws related to security of vote tabulating machines"
description: "Revise laws related to security of vote tabulating machines"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 173"
citation: "Montana HB 173 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Crimes", "Elections (see also: Ballot Issues)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David Bedey"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 51
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-11-20T17:56:52+00:00"
last_action: "2023-04-19T21:56:46+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f9a6213b-c4dd-49ee-9223-88b3588ae797"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC1413"
source_hash: "018c4e81d450accb47802c860ca305b47bc00b2c751a0dc9824d9156da7f7736"
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 173 (2023) — Revise laws related to security of vote tabulating machines

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0173.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4242)
2. **HB0173.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4243)
3. **HB0173.001.003_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4241)
4. **HB0173.001.004_Amendments-in-Context_final-full (1).pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4240)
5. **HB0173.001.004_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4239)
6. **HB0173.001.005_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4238)
7. **HB0173_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4247)
8. **HB0173_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4245)
9. **HB0173_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4246)

## Votes

- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **75–24** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **48–2** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **48–2** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **77–22** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **13–5** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- David Bedey — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-04-19T21:56:46+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-04-19T15:34:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-13T16:45:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-12T18:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-07T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-05T15:58:22+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-05T15:57:36+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-03-24T21:42:54+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-03-24T21:27:01+00:00** (S) Returned to House
- **2023-03-23T20:23:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-23T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-22T20:11:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-22T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-20T19:06:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-17T21:00:01+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-17T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-02-16T16:51:00+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-03T22:44:09+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-02-03T19:46:58+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Signed
- **2023-02-03T16:39:38+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-02-02T20:32:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-02T17:13:15+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-02-01T22:44:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-01T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-01-31T20:29:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-01-31T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-01-27T14:37:57+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-01-26T23:51:54+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-01-26T20:18:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-26T17:56:20+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-16T16:00:40+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-01-12T21:19:11+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-01-06T20:55:28+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-01-06T19:04:33+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-04T22:24:00+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-04T22:23:25+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-01-03T21:28:33+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2022-12-29T23:50:08+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2022-12-29T19:01:13+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2022-12-29T19:00:54+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2022-12-28T22:00:37+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2022-12-28T21:50:11+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2022-12-28T20:56:05+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2022-12-28T20:56:04+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2022-12-28T02:52:52+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2022-12-28T00:02:05+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2022-12-27T20:36:42+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2022-12-26T20:16:03+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-12-26T19:42:18+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-12-22T23:14:17+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-11-20T17:56:52+00:00** (C) Draft Request Received `receipt`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f9a6213b-c4dd-49ee-9223-88b3588ae797`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).