---
type: "Bill"
title: "Clarify definition of election officials"
description: "Clarify definition of election officials"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 61"
citation: "Montana SB 61 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections (see also: Ballot Issues)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Janet Ellis"]
version_count: 12
action_count: 44
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-08-24T20:23:51+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-02T15:27:12+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/437e85c6-b5ab-41f7-9872-3006945ca4cf"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC0259"
source_hash: "1d22397ae9e06e94bc725764ddd16b98260ca003007c1c5b660f23484433bcbf"
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 SB 61 (2023) — Clarify definition of election officials

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0061.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed (1).pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=3257)
2. **SB0061.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=3256)
3. **SB0061.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full (1).pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=3254)
4. **SB0061.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=3259)
5. **SB0061.002.001.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12166)
6. **SB0061.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=3255)
7. **SB0061.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=3258)
8. **SB0061001SCS16499.slc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10726)
9. **SB0061002CWS19673.slc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10725)
10. **SB0061_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=1980)
11. **SB0061_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=1979)
12. **SB0061_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=1978)

## Votes

- (S) 2nd Reading Passed — **28–20** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed — **29–21** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Concurred — **57–43** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **16–2** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **7–3** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Concurred — **54–41** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Janet Ellis — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-02T15:27:12+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-01T19:06:00+00:00** (S) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-24T16:50:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-22T14:30:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-19T16:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-17T17:32:44+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-17T17:32:43+00:00** (S) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-07T21:08:20+00:00** (S) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-07T19:51:37+00:00** (H) Returned to Senate
- **2023-04-07T14:29:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-07T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-06T19:36:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-06T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-23T20:04:09+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Pass Consideration `reading-2`
- **2023-03-17T19:15:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-17T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-14T15:00:52+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-21T22:56:49+00:00** (H) Hearing Canceled
- **2023-02-14T20:22:05+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-14T19:45:28+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-01T21:41:13+00:00** (S) Transmitted to House
- **2023-01-31T22:10:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-01-31T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-01-30T20:40:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-01-30T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-01-26T22:19:02+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-01-26T20:14:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-25T17:03:19+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-16T22:00:23+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-01-12T17:49:23+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-10T20:20:35+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-01-02T20:04:19+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2022-12-29T00:25:44+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-12-13T17:43:54+00:00** (S) Introduced
- **2022-11-30T20:36:58+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2022-11-30T19:56:25+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2022-11-30T19:55:00+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2022-11-29T02:00:18+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2022-11-29T02:00:17+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2022-11-28T17:59:30+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2022-11-28T17:55:31+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2022-11-26T18:25:19+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2022-11-23T18:31:31+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-08-24T20:23:51+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/437e85c6-b5ab-41f7-9872-3006945ca4cf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).