Abortion rights group says it has signatures to qualify initiative for ballot

Despite legal delays and a persistent opposition movement, organizers of an initiative to enshrine a right to abortion in the Montana Constitution say they have gathered enough signatures to put the proposal on the November ballot.

The group behind Constitutional Initiative 128, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, said in a Friday press conference that it had collected more than 117,000 signatures since early April, about 57,000 more than the necessary 60,359.

Those signatures, due to county election offices Friday, now must be checked by local election administrators through line-by-line work that will likely take several weeks. Ballot qualification requirements for constitutional initiatives also mandate that a proposal must receive at least 604 signatures from registered voters in 40 of Montana’s 100 House districts.