Party labels in Montana school board elections
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| Montana overview: • Election dates: Off-cycle |
| Key policies: • Election dates and timing • Party labels on the ballot |
| Key terms • On-cycle elections • Off-cycle elections • Off-year elections • Off-date elections • Party labels • Partisan elections • Nonpartisan elections |
School board elections in Montana are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates.
See law: Montana Statute Sections 13-12-203, 13-14-115, and 20-3-306
There were 299 public school districts in Montana with a total of 1,500 school board member seats as of 2022. Those school districts operated a total of 681 schools serving 108,603 students.
Montana is one of 41 states with state laws providing for nonpartisan school board elections.
The information in this page was last updated in 2022. Please email editor@ballotpedia.org with any updates, corrections, exceptions, or improvements.
Montana state law governing party labels on the ballot for school board elections
School board elections in Montana are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Montana State Statute requires two different formats for candidates in nonpartisan general elections depending on whether (a) the ballot contains only nonpartisan races or (b) the ballot contains both nonpartisan and partisan races. If the ballot contains only nonpartisan races, candidates must appear under the title of the office sought with no description or designation whatsoever. If the ballot contains both partisan and nonpartisan races, candidates must appear under the title of the office sought along with the word "Nonpartisan." May election ballots on which school board candidates appear do not generally have partisan offices included, which means school board candidates appear on the ballot with no designation.
See law: Montana Statute Sections 13-12-203, 13-14-115, and 20-3-306
Examples of how school board candidates appear on the ballot in Montana
Below is an excerpt from a sample ballot in Montana showing school board candidates (left) without any identifier or designation appearing on the ballot for a May election ballot containing only nonpartisan races. For comparison, an excerpt of a November election ballot (right) containing both partisan and nonpartisan races is also included.
How does Montana compare to other states?
Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.
As of July 2025, over 85% of school boards are elected without any party labels on the ballot identifying the candidates' affiliation with a political party. State laws in five states containing 1,169 school districts (9%) provide for party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In five states containing 554 districts (4%), state laws effectively provide for both the option of including or not including party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In the remaining states with elected local school board members, state law provides for school board elections without the inclusion of party labels on the ballot.
Elections in which party labels are included on the ballot are referred to as partisan elections. Elections in which party labels are not included on the ballot are referred to as nonpartisan elections.
The state laws of 40 states containing 11,472 school districts provide for school board elections without party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (nonpartisan elections).
State laws of five states provide for school board elections with party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (partisan elections):
State laws of five states containing 554 school districts effectively provide both options depending on the district. The details and the number of districts that fall in each category vary among the states. Those five states are:
See also
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School board election rules: |
School board election coverage: |
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Footnotes
