Montana: Federal judge upholds Montana campaign disclosure law | Associated Press

Montana's new campaign disclosure law has survived its first test, with a federal judge rejecting arguments that it unconstitutionally interferes with the free speech of groups that want to influence elections without revealing where they get their money or how they spend it. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen, in ruling for the state Monday, cited the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010 that allowed unlimited corporate spending in elections. In that case, the justices ruled that although disclosure requirements burden the ability to speak, they are constitutional because they don't prevent anyone from speaking. A dramatic rise in election spending has left Montana voters inundated with political television ads and mailers that seek to inform — or misinform — the voters and sway their opinions, Christensen wrote in the decision.

Montana: State law deletes absentee voter list every two years | NBC

Some absentee voters in Montana did not get their ballot in the mail for this election, and it turns out it may have something to do with state law. The Gallatin County election administrator told NBC Montana that registering to vote absentee is only good for two years. State law requires the absentee voter list to be deleted completely every two years. That means elections offices have to send out renewal forms to absentee voters asking if they want to stay on the list. This is not anything new. "It used to be that people had to do this confirmation after every election, and then it went to every six months, then it went to once a year and now it's every two years that they have to do this," said Charlotte Mills, the county election administrator.

Montana: Ballot printing delayed while Libertarians sort dispute after candidate’s death | Associated Press

Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch on Thursday accepted a replacement for U.S. House candidate Mike Fellows, who died in a car crash earlier this week, after a Libertarian Party internal dispute briefly threatened to delay county election officials from printing new ballots. Rick Breckenridge of Proctor filed his paperwork with McCulloch's office on Thursday morning after the Ravalli County Libertarian Central Committee chose him to replace Mike Fellows in the U.S. House race. Fellows, the longtime state chairman of the Libertarian Party, died Monday night in a head-on collision after a campaign event in Seeley Lake. But a power struggle emerged within the party over Fellows' successor as the head of the party who could properly name a replacement candidate, and McCulloch said Breckenridge's filing could not be accepted until the dispute was settled.

Montana: Court rules to keep Libertarian candidate on ballot | Associated Press

The Montana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to keep the Libertarian candidate for secretary of state on November's election ballots after the head of the state's Republican Party tried to have the candidate declared ineligible. The justices, in a 5-1 decision, denied GOP Chairman Jeff Essmann's request to remove Roger Roots from the ballot because Roots failed to file his required campaign finance disclosure paperwork. Roots is a long-shot candidate for the open seat against Republican Corey Stapleton and Democrat Monica Lindeen. He has neither raised nor spent any money in his campaign to replace outgoing Secretary of State Linda McCulloch.

Montana: Officials say ballot delay could harm election | Associated Press

Some Montana residents may not be able to vote in the November election if the state Supreme Court grants Republican Party chairman Jeff Essmann's petition to delay the printing of ballots to remove a Libertarian candidate's name, state officials said Monday. Changing the ballots now to remove Roger Roots' name from the ballot could cause counties to miss the deadline to mail ballots to Montana residents currently outside of the United States, said Jorge Quintana, the lawyer for Secretary of State Linda McCulloch, in his response filed with the Supreme Court. It would also require changing the handicapped-accessible electronic voting system and the vote tabulating equipment for the more than 700 ballots statewide, said Lisa Kimmet, McCulloch's elections deputy. And ballots would have to be reprinted because the candidates' names in each race are rotated on different ballots so that each name appears at the top of the list an equal number of times.

Montana: State Supreme Court asked to remove Montana ballot issue | Billings Gazette

Montana’s Supreme Court is being asked to strike a ballot issue that commits Montanans to spending $200 million on medical research. The Montana Taxpayers Association and others say Initiative I-181 is unconstitutional because it commits public money to a private group not under control of the state. Slated for the November ballot, the initiative would commit Montanans to providing $20 million in bonds each year for 10 years for medical research. A research board would determine who received the money. The state would not have a return on investment for any successful research. “This method is bad public policy, bonding for programs,” said Bob Story of MonTax. “If you want to bond to build assets, that’s one thing, but if you want to bond for basically a spending program.”

Montana: Costs of Indian voting rights legal counsel released | Great Falls Tribune

Money spent by counties defending a 2012 lawsuit on Indian voting rights could have gone toward setting up satellite voting and alternative voting areas on reservations for years, Indian voting activists said. Blaine County paid $119,071 and Rosebud County paid $116,000 for outside legal counsel in the 2012 Wandering Medicine lawsuit, which was settled in 2014, a figure that could reach about $460,000 when combined with Bighorn County, which was also involved in the lawsuit, and the $100,000 paid to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, activists said. However, attorneys involved in the litigation say that is not the case. The $119,071 figure was released in a May 13 public records request to William “Snuffy” Main, a member of the Gros Ventre Tribe on the Fort Belknap Reservation, said attorney Sara Frankenstein of the South Dakota law firm of Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson & Ashmore, who represented Blaine County in the lawsuit.

Montana: More satellite voting offices, more American Indians seeking office this election season | Billings Gazette

If American Indian candidates win all 11 of the seats in the Montana Legislature they are running for this fall, the percentage of Natives in the session would for the first time be representative of the population in the state. American Indians make up 7.4 percent of Montanans but have historically been underrepresented in the Legislature. In the 2015 session, there were eight American Indian legislators, three in the Senate and five in the House, for 5.3 percent of the 150 members. If Indians win all the seats they're running for this year, that would come to 8 percent, including a state senator whose seat isn’t up for election this year, to make 12 total. … The geography and demographics of their campaigns creates a unique situation, they say. As candidates they talk about advocating for Native issues but also don’t want to be defined strictly by the color of their skin.

Montana: 10 Republicans call for special session on campaign finance | The Billings Gazette

Ten Republicans filed paperwork on Tuesday seeking a special session to fix flawed campaign finance laws, but Democrats say the move is unnecessary. For a session to convene, at least 76 of the 150 members of the House and Senate must approve. Republicans say the emergency measure — which is also expensive — is necessary to fix what they call "defects" in Montana law governing campaign contributions and close a "loophole" that allows for cash from political action committees to flow to candidates without limit.

Montana: Judge issues stay reinstating campaign contribution limits from political parties | Associated Press

A federal judge on Thursday put back into place limits on what Montana's political parties can give to campaigns. State attorneys on Tuesday argued that U.S. District Court Judge Charles Lovell should issue a stay over part of his own order from last week that removed contribution limits for the political party committees. In his order May 17, Lovell said the contribution limits were too low and unconstitutional, but left what happened next up to Attorney General Tim Fox. Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl interpreted Lovell's order as ending limits set by a 1994 initiative and said he was required to reinstate the limits that were in place before then, adjusted for inflation. That left the limits for contributions from individuals and political action committees significantly higher, especially for PACs.

Montana: Judge rules against election materials law | Great Falls Tribune

A federal judge has once again struck down a law that requires candidates who criticize the voting records of another candidate to offer details on the vote. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by GOP candidate J.C. Kantorowicz who is running for the state Senate District 10 seat in the June 7 primary against fellow GOP Steve Fitzpatrick, who now serves in the state House of Representatives. Kantorowicz filed the lawsuit against Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl, Attorney General Tim Fox and Leo Gallagher, Lewis and Clark County attorney, in April, claiming that his First Amendment rights to criticize Fitzpatrick were muzzled by a state law that he described as an “incumbent protection act.” Fitzpatrick had filed a complaint against Kantorowicz in April with the COPP office. U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen made the ruling Monday.

Montana: US judge strikes down Montana campaign contribution limits | Associated Press

For a second time in four years, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that Montana’s campaign contribution limits are unconstitutional — a decision that could open the way for a flood of money from political parties just three weeks before the June 7 state primary. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell was a clear setback for state Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl, who has defended the strict limits that voters enacted in 1994. Lovell said Montana officials did not prove that the limits “further the important state interest of combating quid pro quo corruption or its appearance.” Motl urged restraint by political parties that can now contribute unlimited amounts of cash to candidates. Lovell expressed no opinion on what contributions should be for individuals and political action committees and left the question to the Montana attorney general.

Montana: Attorney General seeks partial stay in campaign spending ruling | Helena Independent Record

Montana Attorney General Tim Fox's office filed a motion for an immediate partial stay with U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals after a ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell struck down the state's campaign contribution limits. The brief was filed late Thursday afternoon, and the attorney general's office which represents Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl, argued that unless the Ninth Circuit grants the immediate request, suspending contribution limits "will cause confusion and undermine the integrity of Montana's electoral process." "Military and absentee voting has begun ... and the primary election is less than 20 days away," the brief said. "... there can be no doubt that unlimited donations from political parties would create mass chaos in Montana's election."

Montana: Officials Seek To Delay Implementation Of Campaign Finance Ruling | MTPR

Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices is asking a federal court to put on hold a ruling that would allow political parties to donate unlimited amounts of money to campaigns. On Tuesday, a Montana District Court judge struck down limits on contributions to candidates. The judge said the limits were unconstitutional. When that happened, Montana’s old contribution limit laws went into effect, except for the laws capping how much a political party can give. Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl says he spoke with the Attorney General’s office and they will ask the judge for a stay. That would restore the current limits on political party contributions for 2016.

Montana: Judge tosses closed primary lawsuit, but fight is not over | Associated Press

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to allow only Republican-registered voters to participate in its primary elections. But the legal fight to throw out Montana's century-old open primary system isn't over yet. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris dismissed the lawsuit by the Montana Republican Party and 10 GOP county central committees that claimed open primaries allow Democrats and independent voters to influence the outcome of their elections. The system violates Republicans' freedom of association and forces candidates to change their message to appeal to "crossover voters," the lawsuit said. The dismissal comes at the Republicans' request after after a series of rulings by Morris, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court that ensured the June 7 primary elections will remain open to all registered voters.

Montana: State attorneys defend campaign finance law ahead of elections | Associated Press

Montana attorneys on Tuesday defended the state's new campaign finance disclosure law against a gun-rights organization that wants parts of it struck down before next month's primary elections. The Virginia-based National Association for Gun Rights claims the law passed by state legislators last year would force it to register as a political committee for making issue-advocacy statements that are protected by the First Amendment. The law imposes burdens — filing reports, disclosing contributors and opening a bank account among them — on groups that "simply desire to talk about matters of public concern," the association's attorney, Matthew Monforton, said in court filings. State attorneys argued the law does not prevent so-called social welfare groups such as the National Association for Gun Rights from speaking freely, but it requires disclosure from those who do.

Montana: State Republican Party to drop out of closed primary suit | Associated Press

The Montana Republican Party will drop out of a lawsuit that seeks to allow only GOP-registered voters to participate in its primary elections, but Republican committees in 10 counties plan to press forward with the case. The likelihood of ending Montana’s open-primary system through the lawsuit is low, based on previous court rulings against the party in the case, according to a statement attributed to the state party chairman, Billings Rep. Jeff Essmann. So the party’s executive board voted to seek to dismiss the case. “We hope that all parties to the matter will agree that there is no need for the expense of a trial to be incurred at this point,” Essmann said in the statement. The state party’s attorney will file a motion to dismiss the case, GOP spokesman Shane Scanlon said.

Montana: Thousands of voters will miss presidential primary because of election confusion | Billings Gazette

Every presidential election year, there’s a twist in Montana voting procedure that causes some voters to miss the primary. It all has to do with ballots. “That’s one of the problems with our hybrid election system in Montana,” said Brett Rutherford, Yellowstone County elections officer. The confusion begins this Friday when nearly every voter in Yellowstone County is mailed a ballot for school elections. All but one school district in Yellowstone County conducts mail-ballot-only elections, Rutherford said. The exception is tiny Custer School District, which has only a few hundred voters, who still have to go to a polling place to cast ballots.

Montana: Fort Belknap Challenging Montana for Voting Rights | ICTMN

The Fort Belknap Indian Community in Montana is considering taking legal action against Blaine County and the Secretary of State of Montana for failing to provide equal access to the right to vote for tribal members, according to the tribe’s president. Fort Belknap Indian Community President Mark Azure said the tribe has retained the services of Timothy Purdon and Brendan Johnson of Robins Kaplan – the former attorneys general of North Dakota and South Dakota, respectively – and Bryan Sells, who was previously working in civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice before starting his own law practice. “We have made multiple requests of Blaine County officials for equal access to in-person late registration and absentee balloting on the Fort Belknap Reservation going back to August 2014,” Azure said.

Montana: Ted Cruz questions signatures that put Kasich on ballot | Associated Press

Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is trying to knock opponent John Kasich off Montana’s primary by questioning signatures the Ohio governor’s campaign submitted to qualify for the ballot — another subplot in the unfolding political drama to derail Donald Trump’s presidential bid. Emails obtained by The Associated Press show Cruz campaign officials have raised questions about the 622 signatures submitted by the Kasich campaign. A minimum of 500 valid signatures is required for a presidential candidate to qualify for the Montana ballot. The Cruz campaign asserts Kasich’s petition contains signatures with invalid notaries, improper dates, mismatched phone numbers and illegible names, among other potential discrepancies.

Montana: Supreme Court rejects appeal; Montana primaries will stay open | Associated Press

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a Republican Party appeal seeking to close Montana's primary elections in June, meaning any registered voter will be able to select a GOP ballot. The Montana Republican Party and eight central county committees want to require primary voters to register as Republicans before being allowed to participate in the June 7 elections. Two lower courts had denied their request for an emergency injunction, resulting in the long-shot appeal to the nation's high court. The court takes up very few petitions it receives, but in this case, Justice Anthony Kennedy had requested more information about the issue. That had given GOP attorney Matthew Monforton a glimmer of hope that the court would intervene, but it denied the appeal without comment a day after all the arguments had been filed. "We're going to just continue on and seek relief with regard to crossover voting in the 2018 primaries," Monforton said.

Montana: Panel considers options to ease growing burden on courts | Associated Press

A state commission responsible for redrawing judicial districts has released a slate of proposals aimed at making the court system more able to handle its growing caseload. But in the end, the commission’s work may only underscore the need for more judges, not judicial redistricting. The legislature established the commission last year to study if realigning the boundaries of the state’s 22 judicial districts might ease the pressures on courts because of the growing number of cases. “We’ve got to answer the question that the legislature gave us. The answer may be to redraw these lines ... or the answer may be that redrawing the lines won’t help,” said District Court Judge Gregory Todd of Billings, who chairs the commission. “For the commission to do its job, it needs to look at some of these specific proposals and say why they won’t help.”

Montana: Mail-In Voting Expected To Minimize Lines In Montana | MTPR

Montana election officials say it’s unlikely the state’s June primary election will see the kinds of long lines Arizona voters experienced Tuesday in that state’s presidential primary. Voter interest in this year’s presidential primary overwhelmed Arizona election officials. The Arizona Republic reported people waited for hours at some polling stations after county election officials reduced the number of sites to save money. The newspaper says at least one polling place ran out of ballots. Montana elections officials say they are making sure that doesn’t happen in the state’s June primary. "I’m not really worried about our polling places just because we generally don’t see a lot of walk-in voters for primary elections."

Montana: GOP challenges cross-over voters | SCOTUSblog

The Montana Republican Party and eight of its county-level committees have asked the Supreme Court to bar non-Republicans from crossing over and casting GOP ballots in the state’s “open primary” election on June 7. The application (Ravalli County Republican Central Committee v. McCulloch, 15A911) seeks action by the Court by March 31. The state has been told to reply by Tuesday afternoon. Potentially, this dispute over cross-over voters could affect all of the eleven states that now have an “open primary” — that is, one in which voters are not restricted to vote only for a specific party’s candidates for state and congressional offices. The request was filed with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who handles emergency legal matters from the geographic area that is the Ninth Circuit, which includes Montana. Kennedy has the option of acting on his own or sharing the request with the other Justices.

Montana: U.S. Supreme Court orders Montana to respond to GOP primary concerns | Associated Press

Worried that outsiders will force the election of Donald Trump in Montana’s open June 7 primary, groups within the Montana GOP want out and are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the state from stopping the party’s exit. On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy ordered Montana to respond to the GOP’s argument by Tuesday. “When you talk about a presidential election, the Supreme Court has said open primaries cannot be required,” said former Montana legislator Matthew Monforton, lawyer for 10 Montana County Republican committees involved in the lawsuit.

Montana: GOP asks Supreme Court to close primary elections | Associated Press

Montana Republicans on Friday filed a long-shot appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to block non-GOP voters from participating in their primary elections in June. The nation’s high court takes up very few of the petitions it receives. If it denies the emergency application for an injunction filed by the Montana Republican Party and eight county central committees, they will have to start preparing for a trial in a lower court that isn’t likely to happen before the June elections, attorney Matthew Monforton said. “This is our last chance to prevail in the suit before the June 2016 primary,” Monforton said. Montana Department of Justice spokesman John Barnes did not have an immediate comment.

Montana: Group calls Indian voting proposals ‘unequal’ | Great Falls Tribune

An Indian advocacy organization has told Secretary of State Linda McCulloch that the counties that have submitted proposals for Indian voting satellite offices have proposed plans that offer unequal access. It’s also noted that none of the counties is providing Election Day voter registration, which denies tribal residents equal access to the ballot box. In October, McCulloch issued a directive stating Montana counties must establish satellite voting offices for in-person absentee voting and later-voter registration for the 2016 general election.

Montana: Report details challenges facing Indian voters | Great Falls Tribune

Conditions such as distance, health, weather, income and a history of discrimination in voting are some of the reasons why satellite offices on American Indian reservations would help with late registration and in-person absentee voting, according to a recent study prepared for two Indian voting rights groups. The 47-page study, “An analysis of factors that result in vote denial for American Indian voters living on reservations in Montana,” has been forwarded to Secretary of State Linda McCulloch by Four Directions and the Indian People’s Actions. The report was commissioned shortly after McCulloch issued a directive Oct. 19 that Montana counties must establish satellite voting offices for in-person absentee voting and later-voter registration for the 2016 general election. Bret Healy, a consultant with Four Directions, a South Dakota-based Indian voting rights organization, said the report is a comprehensive look at the reservations and encouraged counties to read it.

Montana: McCulloch announces satellite voting offices on reservations | Great Falls Tribune

Secretary of State Linda McCulloch on Monday announced the establishment of five satellite election offices with the potential of more on Indian reservations in Montana for the 2016 elections. This follows a directive issued by McCulloch in October, ordering counties to provide satellite offices to ensure compliance with the Federal Voting Rights Act. Satellite offices offer services that are otherwise only available to voters at the county headquarters, namely late registration and in-person absentee voting, which are available in the 29 days preceding the election, officials said.

Montana: Group discusses ‘motor voter law’ claims | Great Falls Tribune

Nearly a dozen people met Thursday to discuss allegations that Montana is failing to fully comply with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, setting the stage for more meetings and further discussion, officials said. In a Dec. 18 letter, a group claims Montana has not fully complied with sections that establish clear voter registration obligations on the Motor Vehicles Department, which is overseen by the Department of Justice, and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services