Montana Title 13. Elections § 13-37-228. Time periods covered by reports

(1) The initial report must cover all contributions received or expenditures made by a candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee from the time that a person became a candidate a political committee, as defined in 13-1-101, or a joint fundraising committee, as provided in 13-37-211, until the 5th day before the date of filing of the appropriate initial report pursuant to 13-37-226. Reports filed by political committees organized to support or oppose a statewide ballot issue must disclose all contributions received and expenditures made prior to the time a proposed issue is submitted to the secretary of state in 13-27-214 even if the issue subsequently fails to complete the review process or fails to garner sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot.

(2) Subsequent periodic reports must cover the period of time from the closing of the previous report to 5 days before the date of filing of a report pursuant to 13-37-226. For the purposes of this subsection, the reports required under 13-37-226(1)(c), (1)(d), (2)(c), and (2)(d) are not periodic reports and must be filed as required by 13-37-226(1)(c), (1)(d), (2)(c), and (2)(d), as applicable.

(3) Closing reports must cover the period of time from the last periodic report to the final closing of the books of the candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee. A candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee shall file a closing report following an election in which the candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee participates whenever all debts and obligations are satisfied and further contributions or expenditures will not be received or made that relate to the campaign unless the election is a primary election and the candidate, political committee, or joint fundraising committee will participate in the general election.

(4) If all debts and obligations are satisfied and further contributions or expenditures will not be received or made, a joint fundraising committee may file a closing report at any time.