Trio of initiatives poised to make the November ballot

Three ballot initiatives, two that could change the way candidates are selected in primary elections, as well as one to enshrine reproductive rights in the Montana Constitution, have crossed an initial threshold, signaling that all three measures will likely be before voters in the 2024 general election in November.

Montanans for Election Reform and Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights both announced Friday that Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s official website showed that both groups had collected enough signatures to meet the legal threshold to go before voters.

Montanans for Election Reform proposed and qualified two measures, Constitutional Initiatives 126 and 127. Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights secured Constitutional Initiative 128.

Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights said it had surpassed the minimum number of signatures needed. It need 60,359 signatures total, and that included a 10% of voters in 51 House Districts.

MSRR said by 4 p.m. Friday CI-128 had 74,186 verified signatures, according to the Secretary of State’s website.

Meanwhile, Montanans for Election Reform had surpassed the total signature threshold as well as meeting the number of signatures in legislative districts.

Both groups report gathering more valid signatures than required to make it onto the ballot, even with counties still counting.

The news of the measures garnering enough signatures comes after a busy week in which Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Mike Menahan said that the secretary of state should not be tossing out signatures from “inactive” voters. In his ruling, he said that an attorney for Jacobsen had suddenly — and without notice — determined that “inactive” voters, usually those who have changed addresses since voting, should not be counted.

Menahan issued a temporary restraining order, stopping Jacobsen from acting on that interpretation, and ordered any signatures that had been rejected because of “inactive” voters to be restored.

Inactive voters can become active voters simply by showing up to vote, according to court testimony, and they are considered registered voters.

“We’re excited to have met the valid signature threshold and the House District threshold required to qualify this critical initiative for the ballot,” said Kiersten Iwai, executive director of Forward Montana and spokesperson for MSRR. “Still, we will not stop fighting to ensure that every Montana voter who signed the petition has their signature counted. The secretary of state and attorney general have shown no shame in pulling new rules out of thin air, all to thwart the will of Montana voters and serve their own political agendas.”

Jacobsen’s office filed an emergency appeal to the Montana Supreme Court on Thursday, asking the state’s highest court for a writ of supervisory control, which would take the case out of Menahan’s hands, and allow the Supreme Court to decide the measure. The Montana Supreme Court has not made a determination on that appeal.

For now, Menahan’s order remains in effect, and it requires the counties to continue to verify the signatures. During the weekend, the Montana Secretary of State's Office said it will fix the software it changed to invalidate “inactive” signatures.

“Montanans across the state are celebrating the qualification of CI-126 and CI-127 for the ballot this November,” said Frank Garner, board member for Montanans for Election Reform, the bipartisan coalition working to pass these initiatives. “We know county clerks and their staff have been working tirelessly to process every single signature of each Montana citizen who wants more freedom, choice, and accountability in our elections, and we thank them for their commitment to the citizen initiative process. Despite recent attempts by the secretary of state to take away the rights of registered Montana voters, today, the will of Montana citizens prevailed, and we will keep fighting for the right of every Montana voter to have their voice heard.”

On Monday, the Montana counties were to receive a list of rejected “inactive” voters and then will have until noon Wednesday to reprocess the signatures. According to a report generated by the office, there are 7,389 registered inactive voter signatures for CI-128.

Montanans for Election Reform report that counties will need to reverify more than 8,700 signatures for CI-126 and CI-127.

CI-126 and CI-127 deal with a new, top-four model for political candidates, and require a successful candidate for office to win with a majority, not a plurality.

CI-128 protects the right to abortion in Montana, even though court decisions have affirmed the right to it, via the state’s right to privacy. It would also prohibit the government from interfering with right the travel for medical services, as well as protect medical professionals’ from government interference. It would protect abortion up until the point of fetal viability.

The three issues that have qualified for the ballot are all opposed by the Montana Republican Party. Jacobsen is a Republican running for re-election herself.