(1) In addition to and consistent with the procedures specified in the Montana Code Annotated, and due to administrative necessity, the following shall apply to late registration:

(a) Any elector wishing to register after noon on the day before election day may submit a voter registration application at the county election administrator's office, but the elector must appear at the county election office on election day in order to complete the late registration process and receive an absentee ballot.

(2) Except as provided in (3)(a), an elector who registers or changes the elector's voter information pursuant to this rule may vote in the election only if the elector obtains the ballot from and returns it to the location designated by the county election administrator. For the purposes of this rule, returning the ballots to the location designated by the county election administrator includes:

(a) immediately after registering under the procedures of this rule, receiving and casting an absentee ballot at the location designated by the county election administrator; and

(b) at any time after registering under the procedures of this rule, receiving in person from the election administrator and returning an absentee ballot directly to the location designated by the county election administrator, either in person or by mail, subject to applicable deadlines.

(3) An elector who changes residence to a different county within Montana 30 days or less before an election may:

(a) vote in person or by absentee ballot in the precinct and county where previously registered; or

(b) update the elector's registration information and vote in the elector's new county of residence, subject to the late registration provisions of 13-2-301 or 13-2-304, MCA.

(4) If an elector has already been sent an absentee ballot for the election, the elector may change the elector's voter registration information for that election only if the absentee ballot had not been received and is designated as void.

(5) If a late transfer registration applicant who is registered in another county appears in the county election office in order to transfer the applicant's registration, an election official shall, if the county from which the applicant is transferring registration has already printed precinct registers, but not yet printed supplemental registers:

(a) subject to 13-2-304(2), MCA, move the voter's registration from the current county into the new county of registration; and

(b) issue the applicant a regular ballot.

(6) If a late transfer registration applicant who is registered in another county appears in the county election office in order to transfer the applicant's registration, an election official shall, if the county from which the applicant is transferring registration has already printed supplemental registers:

(a) subject to 13-2-304(2), MCA, move the voter's registration from the current county into the new county of registration;

(b) issue the applicant a provisional ballot; and

(c) after the election, contact the county from which the applicant is transferring the applicant's registration in order to determine whether the applicant voted in the other county, and follow all other applicable requirements specified in laws and rules for provisional electors.

(7) To correct administrative error, an election official may register a late registration applicant in the statewide voter database as a duplicate voter:

(a) issue the applicant a provisional ballot; and

(b) after the election, contact the county from which the applicant is transferring the applicant's registration in order to determine whether the applicant voted in the other county, and follow all other applicable requirements specified in laws and rules for provisional electors.