A renewed effort is underway to ensure Montana’s judicial races remain nonpartisan. Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts submitted two initiative proposals to the state’s Secretary of State. These initiatives aim to amend the state Constitution, ensuring all judicial elections and any newly created courts by the Legislature are nonpartisan.
The proposals follow unsuccessful attempts by Republican lawmakers to require judges to declare party affiliations. While the bills didn’t pass, political parties can now legally contribute directly to judicial candidates. If enough signatures are gathered, these initiatives will appear on the 2026 ballot.
“More and more, people in the Legislature have been trying to pass, in statute, partisan judicial elections. So, if we can codify in the Constitution that Montanans want their elections to remain nonpartisan, we want to do it now before we have to unwind something else,” commented Caitie Butler from Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts.
Participants in Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts include groups like the Montana Federation of Public Employees and the ACLU of Montana. In June, another group, Montanans for Fair and Impartial Judges, initiated a campaign to specifically keep state Supreme Court races nonpartisan. This effort is supported by former officials like Republican Gov. Marc Racicot and Secretary of State Bob Brown.
Constitutional amendment initiatives must secure 10% of the voters from the 2024 gubernatorial race, including 10% from each of 40 legislative House districts, to be included on the ballot.
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