IV.1 Ballot
Text
Constitution of Montana -- Article IV -- SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS. Section 1. Ballot. All elections by the people shall be by secret ballot. Mont. Const. art. IV, § 1 (1972) http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/CONSTITUTION/IV/1.htm
History
Sources
Drafting
Delegate Proposals
Delegate Proposal No. 82
Delegate Proposal No. 82, introduced on Feb. 2, 1972 by Bruce Brown
“A proposal for five new constitutional sections concerning the elective process.”
Section 1. There shall be a new constitutional section to provide as follows:
“Section ___. All elections by the people shall be by secret ballot.” Signed by Bruce Brown Montana Constitutional Convention 1971-1972, Vol. I, Delegate Proposal, at 191 (1979).
Committee Proposals
General Government and Constitutional Amendment Committee Majority Proposal.
Section 3. Section 1. All elections by the people shall be by secret ballot. Montana Constitutional Convention 1971-1972, Vol. I, General Government and Constitutional Amendment Committee Proposal, at 336 (1979).
General Government and Constitutional Amendment Committee Proposal Majority (Comments).
“The wording in this section differs from the present Article IX, section 1 only in that it includes the word “secret.” The committee feels that the guarantee of secrecy in voting is important enough to warrant inclusion in the Constitution.”Montana Constitutional Convention 1971-1972, Vol. I, General Government and Constitutional Amendment Committee Proposal, at 337 (1979).
The minority proposal is identical to section 1 of the majority proposal and there is no additional commentary that is relevant to section 1.
The majority proposal passed out of the General Government and Constitutional Amendment Committee Feb. 9, 1972. Six delegates voted in favor and the two delegates who wrote the minority proposal, Pete Lorello and Robert Vermillion, voted against proposal.Montana Constitutional Convention 1971-1972, Vol. I, General Government and Constitutional Amendment Committee Proposal, at 348 (1979).
The General Government and Constitutional Amendment Committee submitted their proposed Suffrage and Elections Article to the Convention Feb. 12, 1972. In the letter sent Chairman Mark Etchart emphasized that the new Article replaced all sections of the, soon to be previous, Constitution that dealt with suffrage and elections. The committee highlighted their intent of making the electoral process as effective and meaningful as possible for the individual Montanan.Montana Constitutional Convention 1971-1972, Vol. I, General Government and Constitutional Amendment Committee Proposal, at 334 (1979).
Floor Debate and Voting
Section 1 was presented to the Committee of the whole by Clerk Hanson. Del. Etchart spoke briefly about the addition of the word secret and the committee’s reasoning for including it in the new Constitution. The committee felt that the guarantee of secrecy in voting was rose to the level of expressly including the word in the new Constitution. Section 1 was voted on by the Convention by a voice vote on Feb. 17, 1972. The ayes carried the vote, and when Chairman Graybill called for opposition there was none.Montana Constitutional Convention 1971-1972 Verbatim Transcript, Vol. III, at 391 (1981).
Section 1 was voted on again in a Committee of the whole report during Order of Business Number 10 on the same day. It was recommended that section 1 be adopted. This vote was recorded as a roll call vote. The vote passes 82-18. The report was sent to the style committee and voted on a final time the following day by another voice vote without opposition. Montana Constitutional Convention 1971-1972 Verbatim Transcript, Vol. III, at 422, 532 (1981).