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

Montana: State to use corruption ruling to defend contribution caps | Associated Press

A second Montana judge has ruled there was corruption in the state's 2010 Republican primary elections, with candidates pledging loyalty to a national anti-union group's cause in exchange for thousands of dollars in illegal and unreported corporate campaign contributions. State officials plan to use the two judicial rulings as evidence in their defense of Montana's limits on how much political donors may contribute to a candidate's campaign. A federal lawsuit seeking to strike down those limits is pending after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that states must prove "quid pro quo corruption" — or the appearance of it — to justify capping contributions.

Montana: Lawsuit challenging open primaries headed to trial | Associated Press

Montana Republican officials plan to file an emergency appeal seeking to close the June primary elections to voters who aren't registered party members, their attorney said Tuesday. The decision by the 10 GOP county central committees to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes after U.S. District Judge Brian Morris on Monday denied their request for an order to close the upcoming GOP primaries, attorney Matthew Monforton said. Morris ruled that the Republican plaintiffs have too many unproven claims in their constitutional challenge to the state's open primary system to decide the case without a trial. They have presented enough evidence to continue the case, but must have data supporting their claims that the system harms their freedom to associate with other party members and forces candidates to change their messages.

Montana: GOP lawsuit to force “closed primary” election is going | MTN News

The Montana Republican Party’s lawsuit to force a “closed primary” election to choose its candidates is going to trial, a federal judge ruled Monday – but he refused to block the 2016 June primary until the issue is settled. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of Great Falls said “factual questions” remain on whether non-Republicans consistently vote in GOP primaries in Montana and somehow influence the outcome, against the wishes of actual Republicans. “Those issues must be resolved at trial,” Morris said, rejecting requests by both the party and the state to resolve the case on written arguments.

Montana: Federal judge, GOP lawyer have lively exchanges over open-primaries | Associated Press

In a hearing on a lawsuit to restrict Republican primary elections to party members only in Montana, a federal judge Thursday questioned whether non-Republican voters are actively crossing over to vote in and influence GOP legislative primaries here. “So, voters are going to give up their right to vote for the president, the U.S. Senate and congressional (candidates of their own party) … to vote to screw up the other guy’s legislative candidates?” asked U.S. District Judge Brian Morris. “You’re telling me that happens regularly?” Matthew Monforton, a lawyer representing numerous GOP central committees, told Morris it does happen – and that’s why Republicans should be allowed to close their primary elections to members only.

Montana: Montana Is Latest State to Reform Campaign Finance Rules | Associated Press

Montana is the latest state to overhaul its campaign-finance rules in an attempt to cast out dark money after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts in elections. The architect of the changes in Montana said the new rules will create a high level of transparency in the state with a history of election corruption, and will be effective because of Montana's relatively small population of 1 million people. "You can put a lightbulb in a big cave and not see very far," Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl said. "In Montana, you're going to see a lot of corners."

Montana: New campaign-finance disclosure rules face potential delays | MTN News

Montana’s new rules on disclosure of campaign spending are facing two potential delays – including a poll of all 150 legislators on whether the rules violate legislative intent. But the state’s top campaign-law enforcer, whose office drew up the rules, said Monday he’s optimistic the rules will take effect in time for the 2016 campaign season, and shed more light on election spending. “I am firmly of the belief that the public in Montana wants these regulations to come out,” said Jonathan Motl, commissioner of political practices. The rules carry out a new law passed by the 2015 Legislature, to crack down on so-called “dark money” in campaigns and require more and faster reporting of campaign spending in Montana.

Montana: Satellite voting access set for all Indian Reservations in Montana | MTN

Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch -- the chief elections official for Montana -- announced on Monday that she is directing all Montana counties with American Indian reservations to work with Tribal Governments to establish satellite election offices to increase access to voting and registration if required under the Federal Voting Rights Act. The directive builds on similar guidance issue by McCulloch in 2014. In a press release, McCulloch said, “I will continue to fight for access for American Indians and all eligible voters, as I have done for my entire career. Our vote is our voice and we need to work together to ensure equal access to the election process for all citizens, and especially those with a history of being denied equal access, such as our Tribal nations.”

Montana: Counties to work with tribal governments on voting access | Billings Gazette

Montana's secretary of state is directing all counties with American Indian reservations to work with tribal governments to establish satellite election offices if they are required under the Federal Voting Rights Act, and if the tribal governments request them. Most reservations have local polling places for Election Day, but Linda McCulloch says satellite offices would also offer late voter registration and in-person absentee voting in the 29 days prior to the election. A settlement in a 2012 federal lawsuit won the right to open satellite offices on the Crow, Northern Cheyenne and Fort Belknap reservations. An office was opened on the Crow Reservation for the 2014 elections, but the others missed a Jan. 31, 2014, deadline to notify election officials whether they wanted the offices.

Montana: McCulloch orders counties establish satellite voting offices | Great Falls Tribune

Secretary of State Linda McCulloch has directed counties that include reservations to establish satellite election offices, but tribal activists say she’s left a big loophole. McCulloch said she connected with tribal leaders and county election officials during the past three weeks and incorporated their feedback into her directive. She asked them to describe the needs of Indian voters and logistics of establishing the satellite offices. “The success of these election offices on reservations will depend upon cooperation between the counties and tribes, and from my conversations with both tribal leaders and election administrators, I am confident that the collaboration will be successful and that voting access will be increased where it is needed,” she said.

Montana: Group suing over election laws must reveal donors, spending | Associated Press

The U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to take up the case of a Montana group that doesn’t want to disclose its donors and spending as it seeks to overturn the state’s campaign finance laws. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen had ruled that Montanans for Community Development must answer questions about the group’s formation, operation and communications with candidates and other groups. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Christensen’s ruling.

Montana: Court rejects appeal by group suing over Montana election laws | Billings Gazette

A federal appeals court has rejected a request by a tax-exempt organization to overrule a judge's order that it must reveal certain information about itself in the group's lawsuit challenging Montana's election laws. Montanans for Community Development had asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen's ruling that it must answer questions or disclose documents about the group's formation, operations, advertising and communications with candidates and other groups. The 9th Circuit ruled Tuesday that the group had not shown the case warrants the appeals court's intervention.

Montana: Secretary of state discusses tribal letter on voting | Great Falls Tribune

The secretary of state on Monday said she would review a letter from the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council who are pressing her to establish satellite voting offices for Native Americans in 10 Montana counties. In a meeting with William “Snuffy” Main, Linda McCulloch said she is a “fan” of satellite offices and voting rights but could not give a definitive answer to the requests made in the letter as it had been in her possession less 24 hours. She said she was looking at the possibility of a directive but could not elaborate as to what the directive would say. Earlier this month, The Rocky Mountain Tribal leaders called on her to “issue a directive to Montana counties that have American Indian Reservations within their boundaries telling the counties that they must establish satellite voting offices for in-person absentee voting and later voter registration on those Indian Reservations within their boundaries for the 2016 general election. “

Montana: Purging Voters | Flathead Beacon

As the presidential primary race hits full gallop, the country’s constituents are paying a little more attention to politics and, perhaps, thinking about whether they are registered to vote, the process of which varies widely by state. Montana’s election rules made headlines in recent weeks, including when former Republican state lawmaker Corey Stapleton announced his bid for secretary of state and accused the current officeholder, Democrat Linda McCulloch, of “purging” thousands of voter files. “When both the elected officials and the media don’t talk about these things, bad things can happen,” Stapleton told the Associated Press.

Montana: Tribal leaders demand satellite voting offices | Great Falls Tribune

The Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council is pressing Secretary of State Linda McCulloch to establish satellite voting offices for Native Americans in 10 Montana counties. A letter from the council is on its way to McCulloch, calling on her to “issue a directive to Montana counties that have American Indian Reservations within their boundaries telling the counties that they must establish satellite voting offices for in-person absentee voting and later voter registration on those Indian Reservations within their boundaries for the upcoming 2016 general election for the full 30 day late registration and absentee voting period, including election day.”

Montana: Court rejects appeal for full hearing on contribution limits | Helena Independent Record

A federal court has rejected Montana's request to rehear its defense of state campaign contribution limits. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that none of its 44 judges moved to reconsider the case that the court already decided was tried on out-of-date standards. A panel of three federal judges ruled in May that a state District Court must re-examine the constitutionality of Montana's contribution limits based on legal tests outlined in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling. "That last hearing was hasty, just before the (2012) election, and as you can see from this decision the legal standards it was reviewed by were murky," Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl said of the original decision by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell of Helena.

Montana: Deputy attorney general withdraws from closed primary case | The Missoulian

A deputy attorney general will no longer be defending the state in a Republican challenge to the state's open primary elections after the party accused him of misconduct. Deputy Attorney General Jon Bennion, a Republican, filed a motion Friday to withdraw as counsel from the case. "I submit this notice of withdrawal in order to prevent future misunderstandings with the Montana Republican Party and to facilitate future communications," Bennion said in court documents. Two other attorneys from Attorney General Tim Fox's office will continue to defend the state in the case calling for primaries in which voters can only cast ballots for candidates in their own party.

Montana: Proposed electioneering rule addresses political attack ads | Bozeman Daily Chronicle

As part of the state’s new election disclosure law, Montana’s commissioner of political practices has proposed a rule aimed at attack ads masquerading as educational. It has become common for “social welfare” organizations to send postcards to voters or broadcast TV ads in the days before an election. State Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, has a pending political practices complaint against the Taxpayers for Liberty, the National Association for Gun Rights and American Tradition Partnership, among others, which includes examples of attack ads that would be considered electioneering under the new rule.

Montana: Taking control: Montana elections getting new disclosure rules | Bozeman Daily Chronicle

They sound about as exciting as buying tube socks, but proposed administrative rules will help put Montanans back in control of state elections after being overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court, state officials believe. The rules, written by Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl and currently open for public comment, are meant to strengthen campaign disclosure requirements after the high court threw out Montana’s Corrupt Practices Act, a 1912 law that banned corporate political spending. The justices said such spending is a constitutionally protected form of speech. After the ruling, “social welfare” corporations — known by their IRS tax-exempt status 501©4, which don’t disclose their donors — began to hammer Montana candidates using “issue ads.”

Montana: Voting rights case inspires national legislation | Great Falls Tribune

A 120-mile round trip separates voters in Lame Deer from voting early and registering late, and Lame Deer is among the closest places on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation to Forsyth, the seat of Rosebud County. But the asphalt on Montana Highway 39 is just one way to measure the distance. “This journey has geographical and historical distances,” said Tom Rodgers, a tribal issues activist, member of the Blackfeet Nation and Jack Abramoff whistleblower. As South Carolina debates Confederate symbols, Rodgers thinks of symbols in Montana that also tell a story. “Names matter. History matters,” he said. “We have a county seat named after a man who was horribly anti-Native American, a man who killed 300 men, women and children at Wounded Knee. The fact that it hasn’t been remedied is wrong, wrong, wrong.”

Montana: New panel to consider redrawing Montana’s judicial districts for first time since 1929 | Associated Press

A newly appointed panel will consider whether to redraw Montana's judicial districts for the first time in more than 80 years. Legislative leaders, Montana's chief justice and other legal institutions picked the seven members of the Judicial Redistricting Commission ahead of a July 31 deadline. Montana has 22 judicial districts. They have been split, but not redrawn, since 1929. A state Supreme Court review last year identified major discrepancies in judges' workloads from one district to another. Overall, the review found Montana's 46 district court judges and four standing masters are meeting the caseload and travel demands of more than 65 people.

Montana: Court reverses ruling on campaign contribution limits | The Missoulian

States may cap political donors' campaign contributions only if they can show that those limits are preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The ruling by a three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a Montana case could make it more difficult for states to defend their restrictions on the amount of money that individual donors give candidates in state elections. States can limit contributions if they have a legitimate interest in doing so. But proving that state interest has changed since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case that said corporations can spend unlimited amounts in elections, a three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.

Montana: New campaign finance law praised, but some say it needs to be toughened | Montana Standard

National authorities are praising Montana’s new campaign finance law as a vast improvement over the state’s former law, but they say it still needs toughening up to end anonymous “dark money” spent by groups known as incidental committees. Campaign finance law experts at the Campaign Legal Center and National Institute on Montana in State Politics each were pleased that Montana passed the stronger law. Both expressed concern that it doesn’t require incidental committees to report their donors.

Montana: Bullock signs Montana campaign finance bill into law | Billings Gazette

Gov. Steve Bullock signed into law Wednesday a major bill to tighten Montana’s campaign finance laws to require anonymous so-called “dark money” groups to report how they are spending money in state political races. The Democratic governor signed the bill flanked by two Republicans, Sen. Duane Ankney of Colstrip, who sponsored the bill, and Rep. Frank Garner of Kalispell, who led the debate in the House. Later, a number of legislators who supported the bill and others who worked on it stood behind the governor and two lawmakers for another bill signing. “When it comes to Montanans as individuals having control of our elections, this is the most significant day in the last 112 years since Montanans passed the Corrupt Practices Act,” Bullock told a large crowd in the Governor’s Reception Room.

Montana: Republicans And Democrats Unite To Ban Dark Money | Huffington Post

The Montana legislature passed sweeping campaign finance legislation on Wednesday that will require the disclosure of all donors to any independent group spending money on state-level elections. The bipartisan Montana Disclose Act will effectively end the flood of “dark money” -- electoral spending by nonprofit groups that do not disclose their donors -- that has plagued recent Montana elections. “Montana elections are about to become the most transparent in the nation, requiring those trying to influence our elections to come out of the dark money shadows,” Gov. Steve Bullock (D), who plans to sign the bill, said in a statement. “Our elections should be decided by Montanans, not shadowy dark money groups.”

Montana: 12 ballot measures introduced by Montana legislators before deadline | The Missoulian

One last-minute ballot measure affecting utility rates was introduced Wednesday, while backers decided not to pursue another referendum for “top-two” primary elections that was drafted and ready to go. Wednesday was the deadline for legislators to introduce statutory referendums or constitutional initiatives. A dozen bills have been introduced to ask voters in 2016 to approve laws or constitutional amendments, and they remain alive at the Legislature. Rep. Tom Woods, D-Bozeman, introduced House Bill 638. It’s a statutory referendum to deny a electric utility automatic rate changes to cover costs of a plant outage. Senate Republicans decided not to proceed with a referendum drafted for Sen. Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, which would have created the “top-two” primary election for certain offices.

Montana: Senate passes bill for to fill U.S. Senate vacancies | The Montana Standard

The state Senate on Tuesday endorsed a bill to require a special election for a U.S. Senate vacancy, as the law currently does for House vacancies, but it would allow the governor to appoint a temporary senator until the election occurs. Senate Bill 169, by Sen. Bradley Hamlett, D-Cascade, won approval on a 48-2 vote and will face a final Senate vote before heading to the House. In brief, here’s how the bill would work: If a vacancy occurs in the Senate, the Montana governor would immediately order a special election. The date of the election would vary depending when the vacancy occurred. It would allow the governor to make a temporary appointment to fill the vacancy until special election occurs. The governor’s temporary appointee to the Senate would have to be from the same political party as the person who vacated the job.

Montana: Committee tables electronic voter registration bill | Hungry Horse News

With a 10 to 10 vote, the House State Administration Committee tabled a bill that would have allowed electronic voter registration for qualified Montana electors. Introduced by the request of Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch and sponsored by Rep. Geraldine Custer, R-Forsyth, House Bill 48 would have allowed online voter registration to Montanans who possessed a valid Montana driver’s license or ID card, making it even more secure than the current paper registration form.

Montana: GOP legislators block campaign transparency bills in committee | Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Two bills in the state Legislature that would increase transparency in Montana politics are dead in committee after Republicans voted them down. It was a 4-3 party line vote last Friday in the Senate State Administration Committee with Republicans using their majority to defeat SB 86, which was introduced by state Sen. JP Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman. The bill’s intent is to provide the public with instant access to campaign finance reports and shine light on attack ad campaigns, Pomnichowski said. Electronic reporting is mandated by 36 states, according to the National Institute of Money in State Politics.

Montana: Election officials pitch online voter registration | Independent Record

State and local election officials endorsed a bill Wednesday to allow citizens to register to vote online if they have a valid Montana driver’s license or identification card. The House State Administrative heard testimony on House Bill 48, by Rep. Geraldine Custer, R-Forsyth, on behalf of Secretary of State Linda McCulloch, a Democrat. The committee didn’t take immediate action on the bill. Custer said the bill is for registering people with driver’s licenses and voter ID cards. The former longtime Rosebud County clerk and recorder said the system would be secure. McCulloch said HB48 would give people the choice of registering to vote between the current paper form or electronically. “Offering the ability to apply for voter registration online will increase transparency, accuracy and efficiency in the voter registration process,” said McCulloch, the state’s chief election official.