What are Political Parties?

A political party can be thought of as a political organization with an expressed ideology that seeks to attain and maintain power within government. This vision of the political party is often bolstered by a written platform with specific goals. Often parties are formed from a coalition of disparate interests. There can be either partisan or nonpartisan elections in municipalities across Montana. This decision is dependent on the form of local government and type of election chosen (see 7‐3-219 and 314, MCA, for more information). If a partisan election is the election process used, officials will determine which political party is most appropriate given their personal views and future political plans. All of Montana’s 129 incorporated municipalities conduct partisan elections for their mayor and council members. In most Montana communities, partisan politics have relatively little to do with local policy issues, let alone the
revenue and service delivery problems that confront local officials. At the local level, few elected officials would argue that party affiliation is at all relevant to local policymaking beyond providing party identification on the ballot at election time. As one experienced mayor observed, “Potholes don’t wear party labels!” Do political parties make a difference in Montana’s local electoral politics? Survey work conducted by the Local Government Center of mayors and council members showed the majority of those sampled reported political
party affiliation had little or no influence on their policy decisions or election. In nonpartisan municipal elections, name recognition frequently seems to be the decisive advantage.
Whether a municipal election is on a partisan or nonpartisan ballot, the role of political parties in the general election of Montana’s local officials is relatively minor, as compared to the important role that local political parties continue to play in the election of state and national officials. No doubt there are still municipalities where this general characterization is less than accurate. Because most municipal elections are nonpartisan, the county election administrator may waive the requirement for a primary election if:
• The number of candidates for an office exceeds three times the number to be elected to that office in no more than one-half of the offices on the ballot; and
• The number of candidates in excess of three times the number to be elected is not more than one for any office on the ballot, 13-14-115, MCA.
If an election administrator determines that a nonpartisan primary election need not be held, the election administrator musty notify the governing body, which may require that a primary election be held if it passes a resolution not more than 10 days after the close of candidate filing. For more information or clarification on this statute, contact the Montana Secretary of State’s office at (406)444-5376 or visit the Montana Secretary of State website.