HELENA, Mont. — An initiative asking voters whether they want to protect the right to pre-viability abortion in Montana’s constitution has collected enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, advocates said Friday.
County election officials have verified 74,186 voter signatures, more than the 60,359 needed to put the constitutional initiative before voters. It also passed the 10% voter threshold in 51 precincts — more than the required 40 precincts, according to Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights.
“We are proud to have met the valid signature threshold and House district threshold needed to qualify this critical initiative for the ballot,” Kiersten Iwai, executive director of Forward Montana and spokesperson for Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.
It remains to be seen whether the signatures of inactive voters should be included in the total.
The Montana Secretary of State said they shouldn’t do that, but didn’t make that statement until after the signatures had been collected and some counties had begun verifying them.
A judge in Helena ruled Tuesday that the qualifications should not have been changed mid-way and said the signatures of inactive voters who were rejected must be verified and counted. District Judge Mike Menahan said those signatures could be accepted until next Wednesday.
The state has asked the Montana Supreme Court to Overthrow Menahan’s Orderbut it will have no effect on the initiative being eligible for a vote.
“We will not stop fighting to ensure that every Montana voter who signed this petition has their signature counted,” Iwai said. “The Secretary of State and Attorney General have shown no shame in pulling new regulations out of thin air, all to thwart the will of Montana voters and serve their own political agendas.”
Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen must review and count the petitions and may reject any that do not meet legal requirements. Jacobsen must certify the ballots for the general election by Aug. 22.
The issue of whether abortion was legal was referred back to the states when the U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade Overturned in June 2022.
The Montana Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that the state’s constitutional right to privacy protects the right to a pre-viability abortion. But the Republican-controlled Legislature passed several bills in 2023 to restrict abortion access, including one that says the constitutional right to privacy does not protect the right to an abortion. Courts have blocked several lawsbut no legal action has been taken against the person seeking to overturn the 1999 Supreme Court ruling.
Montanans for Election Reform, which also challenged the rule change on the basis of petition signatures, said it believes it has enough signatures to ask voters whether they want to amend the state constitution to hold open primaries instead of partisan elections. They also want candidates to receive a majority of the vote to win the general election.