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Montana State Executive Vacancies Filled by Member of Same Political Party Amendment (2018)
| Montana State Executive Vacancies Filled by Member of Same Political Party Amendment | |
|---|---|
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| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Elections and campaigns and State executive official measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Montana State Executive Vacancies Filled by Member of Same Political Party Amendment was not on the ballot in Montana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have required that when a vacancy occurs in the office of secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, or superintendent of public instruction, the state central committee of the political party that nominated the person vacating would develop a list of three nominees and forward the list to the governor. The governor would have then selected one of the individuals from the list to fill the vacancy.[1]
As of 2017, the governor was required to fill a vacancy in the office of secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, or superintendent of public instruction with a person of the governor's own choosing.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | An act submitting to the qualified electors of Montana an amendment to Article VI, Section 6, of the Montana Constitution to provide that if the office of secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, or superintendent of public instruction becomes vacant, the governor shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy who is from the same political party as the person who vacated the office; and providing an effective date.[2] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article VI, Montana Constitution
The measure would have amended Section 6 of Article VI of the Montana Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added:[1] Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
(1) If the office of lieutenant governor becomes vacant by his succession to the office of governor, or by his death, resignation, or disability as determined by law, the governor shall appoint a qualified person to serve in that office for the remainder of the term. If both the elected governor and the elected lieutenant governor become unable to serve in the office of governor, succession to the respective offices shall be as provided by law for the period until the next general election. Then, a governor and lieutenant governor shall be elected to fill the remainder of the original term.
(2) If the office of secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, or superintendent of public instruction becomes vacant by death, resignation, or disability as determined by law, the governor shall appoint a qualified person to serve in that office until the next general election and until a successor is elected and qualified. The person elected to fill a vacancy shall hold the office until the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was elected. If the person who vacated the office was elected or appointed to the office after being nominated by a political party, the governor shall make the appointment from a list of three nominees submitted by the state central committee of the same political party that nominated the person for the office.[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Montana Constitution
To reach the ballot in Montana, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment must be passed by a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of all members of the state legislature during one legislative session. In other words, both chambers do not need to approve an amendment by a two-thirds vote in each; rather, the combined yes votes in the House and Senate need to equal two-thirds of all members. There are 100 members of the House and 50 members of the Senate.
Rep. Derek Skees (R-11) introduced the amendment into the legislature as House Bill 599 (HB 599) on December 15, 2016. The Montana House of Representatives approved the amendment, 59 to 40 with one absent, on March 31, 2017.[3] To receive a two-thirds vote of all legislators, HB 599 needed the 'yes' votes of 41 representatives in the 50-member Montana Senate. On April 13, 2017, the Senate voted 31 to 19 on the amendment, 10 votes less than needed to refer the measure to the ballot.
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Montana Legislature, "House Bill 599," accessed March 31, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Montana Legislature, "HB 599 Overview," accessed March 31, 2017
- ↑ Since Montana requires a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of all members of the legislature taken together, as long as there are enough yes votes in the first chamber to make passage possible (i.e. technically 50 in the House and 0 in the Senate), the proposal moves to the next chamber. However, a vote of lower than a two-thirds majority in the first chamber requires a vote of more than two-thirds in the second chamber.
- ↑ Since Montana requires a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of all members of the legislature taken together, as long as there are enough yes votes in the first chamber to make passage possible (i.e., 50 in the House and 0 in the Senate), the proposal moves to the next chamber. However, a vote of less than a two-thirds majority in the first chamber requires a vote of more than two-thirds in the second chamber.
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State of Montana Helena (capital) |
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