Montana Supreme Court Rejects Attorney General’s Ballot Language Changes
The Montana Supreme Court has determined that State Attorney General Austin Knudsen exceeded his authority in altering the language of a proposed ballot initiative regarding the nonpartisan nature of judicial elections. This marks the second ruling in a month where Knudsen’s changes to ballot language have been contested.
The focus of this decision is on Constitutional Initiative 131 (CI-131), which seeks to maintain the nonpartisan status of Montana’s judicial elections by preventing candidates from declaring political party affiliations. This initiative follows previous legislative attempts by Republicans to allow such declarations, which were unsuccessful.
The court criticized Knudsen for amending the initiative’s language without providing a justification. The justices stated, “The issue is not whether the attorney general correctly concluded MFIJ’s proposed Statement failed to meet the requirements, but whether the attorney general made that conclusion at all.”
In defense of the changes, Knudsen’s office argued that the revisions were made to enhance clarity. However, the court emphasized that if the original language is clear and unbiased, it should not be altered. The proposed amendment to the Montana Constitution is simple: “Supreme Court justices and district court judges shall be elected in nonpartisan elections.”
The attorney general’s revisions included an explanation of nonpartisan elections that implied candidates might obscure their party affiliations. This alteration was also applied to another initiative, CI-132, which similarly aims to secure nonpartisan elections in law. The court previously ruled against Knudsen’s changes to CI-132, stating they could mislead voters.
Subsequently, the court released new language for CI-131 stating: “This constitutional initiative would require that Montana Supreme Court and district court elections remain nonpartisan. Since 1935, state law has required that these elections be held without political party affiliation. This amendment would add that rule to the Montana Constitution, so it could only be changed by another constitutional amendment approved by voters.”
For more information, visit the original report by the Montana Free Press in collaboration with The Associated Press.
