Helena, MT – Over the past week, Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts, a campaign backed by national ballot measure leader the Fairness Project, submitted over 103,000 signatures in support of placing a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall. The amendment would defend Montana’s long tradition of upholding its nonpartisan court system as an example for the nation by enshrining nonpartisan judicial elections in the state constitution. With its passage, judges and state supreme court justices would be required to run for election as individuals, rather than as members of a political party.
Supporters of the amendment, called CI-132, argue the measure is necessary to prevent politicians in Helena from making judicial elections partisan. Without immediate action, they contend, Montana faces the same partisan court capture that has already undermined the judiciary in Ohio, Texas, Florida, and elsewhere. If Montana’s courts become partisan, fair elections, environmental protections, reproductive rights, and voting access would all become political bargaining chips subject to the whim of partisan currents rather than receiving legal and constitutional protection.
Now, with over 103,000 signatures submitted – 170% of the state-mandated minimum of 60,241 – the campaign and its allies not only have the public support they need to qualify for the ballot, but are also confident they have what it takes to win come November.
For Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, the leading national ballot measure organization and a key backer of the Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts campaign, the submission of signatures was another indication that voters from across the ideological spectrum have had enough of partisan games and are ready for a new era of transparency in government.
“Montanans have been voting for their judges and justices in nonpartisan elections for over 90 years,” declared Hall. “They see what is happening in other states where politicians have interfered in the judiciary and put partisan judges on the bench. And they know that a nonpartisan, impartial, and transparent court system is something worth defending. That’s why over 100,000 individuals from all 56 counties agree that an apolitical court system must be defended by the constitution.”
Montana’s system of qualifying citizen-initiated measures and constitutional amendments for the ballot makes the job of submitting signatures a multi-day process. While the last signatures were submitted on Friday, June 19, campaign staffers and volunteers were obligated to turn in signatures to local officials in each of the state’s 56 counties. The signature threshold for a constitutional initiative such as CI-132 is 10 percent of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial general election.
As the nation’s leading ballot measure organization, the Fairness Project is backing campaigns and coalitions in multiple states this cycle, working to strengthen direct democracy, preserve fair representation, and maintain nonpartisan courts. In each instance and in every state, the campaigns are using the ballot measure as the tool of choice to effectuate change. Whether it be defending the courts, ensuring fair representation, or protecting the ballot measure process itself, The Fairness Project is working with in-state partners dedicated to fortifying American democratic institutions and the rule of law.