Three questions, one principle. Article II of the Montana Constitution opens with these words: “All political power is vested in and derived from the people.” This year every ballot carries three statewide measures, each placed there by citizen petition. I will vote yes on each, for one reason. I believe in our republican form of government, and I believe we have to protect it even when protecting it means giving up an advantage for our own side. Each of these measures makes it harder for someone other than the people to hold power that belongs to the people. One checks political parties, one checks public officials, and one checks corporations.
CI-132 checks the parties. A judge must be free of the coercion and consolidation of power already attempted by state GOP leaders under Art Wittich. I joined the lawsuit challenging their June bylaws because they tried to force Republican candidates and elected officials to sign a party loyalty pledge, backed by the threat of suspension or expulsion from the party. Those demands reached into the exercise of legislative, executive and judicial authority. They were trying to make officials elected by the people answer to party bosses. That is anti-republican: it subverts the will of the voters and consolidates power from the top down.
Article III, Section 3 requires legislators and judges to swear or affirm their support for the United States and Montana constitutions, then commands: “No other oath, declaration, or test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.” I served more than 20 years as an Army officer and just under four years as a legislator. In both roles, my sworn allegiance has been to the Constitution, never to a political party. Our authority comes from the voters. Our allegiance is foremost to our constitutions and constituents alone. Party bosses have no claim to either.
The danger grows when those same party leaders seek partisan judicial elections. Put judges under party labels, then subject them to the same demands for loyalty, and the consolidation reaches the branch responsible for checking the others. A party controlling the Legislature and governor’s office must not be allowed to turn the courts into another instrument of its power. That applies equally to Republicans and Democrats.
Some say our courts are already political, so labels would be honest. When a judge errs or fails the oath, remedies already exist: An appeal can correct the ruling, and elections, the Judicial Standards Commission and impeachment provide ways to hold judges accountable. Corrupting the system is not the answer to a corrupt judge.
Montana has elected judges without party labels for more than 90 years, but only by statute, and bills in 2025 tried to change that. CI-132 would place it in the Constitution: “Judicial elections shall remain nonpartisan.” We should choose judges for their judgment and fidelity to the law, not their willingness to follow party orders.
CI-133 checks public officials. The initiative is the people’s check on government, and government should not referee it alone. In July 2024, with county clerks already counting signatures for three initiatives, the Secretary of State’s office changed its software to reject inactive voters’ signatures, reversing long practice. A district judge ordered the state to count them. Whatever you thought of those measures, rules should not change mid-count. CI-133 places the right of initiative and referendum in the Declaration of Rights: approval of a petition for circulation, including any legal-sufficiency challenge, within 90 days of submission; ballot-qualification challenges settled before ballots are finalized; no rejections for minor or technical defects; and no government resources for or against any measure. The rules are set in advance and apply to every measure.
I-194 checks corporations. A corporation exists because the state grants it a charter and privileges no individual has. I-194 says that grant does not include the power to spend money or anything of value to support or oppose candidates, parties, or ballot measures. It covers corporations, nonprofits, trusts, partnerships, trade associations and unincorporated associations, whatever their politics; a violator forfeits its privileges to do business in Montana. Individuals and political committees are exempt: Owners, employees and members may still give in their own names, where voters can see. Its sponsors say it defines the powers a charter confers rather than restricting speech. I am not convinced it will survive a court challenge. The principle is right, and it is one reason I am carrying a True Source Act in 2027, modeled on an Alaska disclosure law the Ninth Circuit has upheld. Whatever happens to I-194, I will keep working to make sure Montanans know who is paying to influence their votes.
Read, then decide. The Voter Information Pamphlet mailed to active registered voters has the full text and the arguments on both sides, and it is online at sosmt.gov/elections/vip. Read it and reach your own conclusion.
Mine is this: it is natural to want to stack the deck when your side holds the cards, and parties, officials and the entities that fund campaigns all feel that pull. But working around the Constitution and the separation of powers to consolidate power spends down the trust that holds self-government together. The other side inherits every tool you build. Never give your own party power you would not trust in the hands of its opponents.
A republic lasts only as long as the people in it are willing to defend its rules when the rules cost them something.
Two of these measures place limits in the Constitution, where no Legislature can move them alone. The third places a limit in statute and will have to prove itself in court. All three keep power where Article II says it belongs: with the people.
It is an honor to serve you.
Brad Barker is a Republican state representative from Carbon County.