However, some Republican lawmakers made it clear they were trying to prevent out-of-state college students from voting in Montana elections. The state argued the new laws were needed to reduce the amount of work for election workers on Election Day, reduce lines at polling places, reduce delays in reporting election results and prevent election fraud.
Jacobsen had requested the bills as Republicans around the country changed voting laws in the wake of the November 2020 election and claims by former President Donald Trump and his supporters that the election was stolen. “To block multiple well-crafted election integrity laws barely a month before ballots go out is judicial activism at its worst,” said Senate President Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell. Moses also temporarily blocked a law that would not allow 17-year-olds who pre-register to vote to receive a ballot, through the mail or otherwise, until they turn 18, even if they would turn 18 on or before Election Day. The plaintiffs, he wrote, were asking that the secretary be restrained from enforcing the new laws before they have governed a statewide election. Jacobsen had already made that argument to Moses, whose order said the plaintiffs were not asking for those steps to be undone. “It’s impossible to undo the steps that have already been taken to implement these legislative changes, including direct voter communication, education, and outreach.” “Wednesday’s decision defies Montana’s common-sense approach to running our elections,” she said in a statement. Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, said in a statement that the bills “were a blatant and cynical attack on Montanans’ constitutional right to vote, specifically impacting young voters, Native voters, elderly and disabled voters, and voters who have trouble getting to the polls.”
Under the ruling, the laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature will remain blocked until the full case currently before Moses is decided. See primary election results and the latest information on voting rules in Montana and more. (AP) - A Montana judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked four laws passed by the 2021 Legislature that the state Democratic Party, tribal organizations and youth groups argued were meant to make it more difficult for Native Americans, new voters, the elderly and those with disabilities to vote.ĭistrict Court Judge Michael Moses ruled the laws that eliminated election day voter registration, changed voter ID requirements for college students and banned the paid collection of voted ballots would not be in effect for the June primary election because it appears they “unconstitutionally burden the right to vote.” Montana Midterm Election 2022 The midterms are coming up on November 8, 2022.
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