Montana judge knocks down Republicans' tighter voting laws

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge struck down as unconstitutional three laws that restricted voting in the state, saying there was no evidence of the widespread voter fraud the 2021 Republican-sponsored laws were ostensibly targeting.

The laws ended same-day voter registration, imposed new identification requirements on students, and restricted third-party ballot collections. The laws had been put on hold in April under a temporary ruling later upheld by the Montana Supreme Court.

Native American tribes that sued over the laws argued the student ID and ballot collection measures had outsized effects on remote reservations where many people live far from polling places and are dealing with poverty and other challenges.

Judge Michael Moses said in a nearly 200-page Friday ruling that the sponsors of the laws showed no proof that voter fraud was a problem following an August trial in which experts and voting officials from across the state testified.

"Voter fraud in Montana is vanishingly rare," Moses wrote.

Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen had requested the voting measures last year as Republicans around the country changed voting laws in the wake of the November 2020 election following claims by former President Donald Trump that the election was stolen.

Jacobsen's own witnesses had agreed during the trial that voter fraud wasn't a problem.

Jacobsen's office did not immediately say if it would appeal.