HELENA — Friday marked an important deadline for advocates seeking to present ballot measures to Montana voters this year. It was the final day for them to submit tens of thousands of petition signatures to county election offices statewide. Now, county officials will review the signatures to determine their validity.
“There’s a significant number of signatures to review this year due to the various ballot initiatives,” stated Connor Fitzpatrick, Lewis and Clark County’s election supervisor. “So, our summer will be quite busy.”
Obtaining different types of initiatives on the ballot necessitates signatures from a set percentage of registered voters. For a statutory initiative, 5% of the votes cast for governor in the last election is required – currently 30,180 – as well as the same proportion in 34 of Montana’s 100 state legislative districts – 302 in each. A state constitutional amendment demands more than twice that amount: 10% statewide and in 40 districts – 60,359 and 604, respectively.
On Friday, the committee supporting one of the most discussed proposed measures announced that they had surpassed nearly double the minimum required number of signatures. Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights is sponsoring Constitutional Initiative 128, which aims to amend the Montana Constitution to explicitly include “a right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion.” The committee reported gathering over 117,000 signatures in a campaign lasting slightly over two months.
Earlier this month, supporters of two proposed constitutional initiatives seeking to alter Montana’s election system revealed they had submitted over 200,000 signatures between the two measures. Montanans for Election Reform is in support of CI-126, establishing a top-four primary, and CI-127, mandating election winners to secure at least 50% of the vote.
Counties now have a four-week window to scrutinize the petitions and ascertain the validity of the signatures. To be validated, the signer must be a registered voter in the county where their signature was submitted. Officials will also verify if the signatures match those in the voter’s file.
“We analyze every signature in your record based on all the forms you’ve ever submitted to an elections office,” mentioned Fitzpatrick.
Signatures can be challenged during the verification process.
By July 19, all counties are required to forward the petitions and certified signatures to the Montana Secretary of State’s Office, which will make the final decision on which measures have met the requirements.
Fitzpatrick revealed that Lewis and Clark County will assign two full-time employees and two temporary workers for the verification process in the upcoming weeks.
“We’ll need to closely monitor this, and we might need to bring in additional help to ensure we meet the July 19 deadline,” he added.
This year, a total of seven proposed initiatives were granted approval to gather signatures. The remaining four proposals were:
· Constitutional Initiative 124, which eliminates the Montana Supreme Court’s oversight on State Bar admission.
· Constitutional Initiative 125, allowing a grand jury to convene upon reaching a certain percentage of a county’s voter signatures.
· Initiative 192, designating rodeo as Montana’s state sport.
· Initiative 193, preventing the state from implementing certain regulations that restrict landowners from hunting deer, elk, or black bears on their private property.
Election officials in several major Montana counties informed MTN that they received significantly fewer petitions for these measures compared to the other three.
