The coalition supporting the ballot initiative seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the Montana State Constitution accuses the Secretary of State of illegally discarding thousands of signatures gathered to advance the measure for November’s vote.
Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights gathered 117,000 signatures, nearly double the required amount for CI-128, but recent actions by the secretary of state pose a threat to the validity of some signatures.
Montanans for Election Reform, another group behind ballot initiatives on open primaries and majority rule, also met the signature threshold for their constitutional measures.
Constitutional initiative groups often collect more signatures than required to account for potential disqualifications due to legibility issues.
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Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights (MSRR) has alleged that Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen has illegally altered voting software to disqualify valid signatures of registered Montana voters who may have been inactive in recent elections.
Email correspondence obtained by MSRR shows that Jacobsen’s office directed county election administrators to reject signatures from inactive voters, contrary to the group’s definition of qualified electors.
According to the state code, qualified electors must meet certain criteria, including being a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old, and meeting registration and residence requirements.