Montana Passes Trio of Ballot Issues

A slate of three ballot issues passed with flying colors in Montana Tuesday night.

Two of the measures were constitutional initiatives, and their passage enshrines nonpartisan judicial elections and protections from government interference in the referendum process into the state Constitution. A third ballot measure proposed a new state law limiting businesses from contributing to candidates, political parties and state ballot issues.

All three measures overcame legal hurdles to make it onto the ballot in the first place, but none faced organized opposition efforts once they finished collecting signatures. The state GOP opposed all three measures.

Initiative 194

Initiative 194, better known as “The Montana Plan,” was perhaps the issue that drew the most attention throughout the election cycle. The ballot issue will limit “artificial persons” from contributing “anything of value” to candidates, political parties and state ballot issues. As of 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, the Montana Secretary of State’s website showed the measure passing with 65% of voters approving of it, while 35% disapproved.

On Instagram Wednesday, the group working to pass the measure thanked the volunteers who helped collect signatures and spread information about the ballot measure.

“This was a people-powered campaign from the very first signature,” the post stated. “What we all built mattered, and Montana noticed.”

I-194 came as part of a national effort, dubbed the Transparent Election Initiative, aiming to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which opened the door to corporate spending in politics and gave rise to concerns about an infusion of dark money into politics.

As the election cycle went on, it gained backing from a slew of high-profile politicians from both inside and outside the Treasure State, including former Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, former Govs. Marc Racicot and Steve Bullock and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg visited Butte to stump for the measure this spring as it was collecting the signatures to make it onto the ballot.

It overcame some opposition from the state’s business community, including the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, whose president raised concerns the measure would hurt the chamber’s ability to advocate on local issues.

The passage of the measure adds a new chapter to Montana’s long and layered history with dark money and elections. The Treasure State passed a Corrupt Practices Act in 1912, which banned corporations from spending money to influence elections in the state, after the influence of the Copper Kings had long reigned supreme. Citizens United was used as the basis for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down that law in 2012.

Constitutional Initiative 132

Montanans voted to maintain nonpartisan judicial elections in the form of Constitutional Initiative 132 Tuesday night, with 68% of voters statewide approving of the measure as of 8 a.m. Wednesday morning.

CI-132 stated simply, “CI-132 amends the Montana Constitution to require that judicial elections remain nonpartisan.”

Backed by the group Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts, the measure will keep partisan labels off the ballot for judicial candidates running for any position, from the state Supreme Court to the state’s district courts, water courts, municipal courts and more. It doesn’t preclude candidates from associating with one party or the other and accepting their contributions. Its passage maintains the status quo in Montana, where judicial races have been conducted in a nonpartisan manner for more than 90 years.

The measure earned the endorsement of eight retired state Supreme Court justices, more than 40 retired lower court judges and a slew of lawyers and legal groups. The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce also opted to lend its support to CI-132.

The Montana GOP opposed the measure. CI-132 came on the heels of a 2025 legislative session where lawmakers attempted to pass several bills that would’ve required judges to run under a partisan label. Republicans have, in recent years, painted the courts as partisan for their rulings against some pieces of legislation passed by the majority-GOP state Legislature.

In a press release shared before midnight Tuesday, Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts heralded the measure’s passage as a “historic step.”

“From all of the Montanans who signed their name to put CI-132 on the ballot to the enthusiastic responses we received from voters across the state, we know Montanans want to keep their courts impartial,” said Pat Cotter, a former state Supreme Court justice who endorsed the initiative, in the release. “Nonpartisan judicial elections keep all of our courts accountable to the people and the Constitution, and now Montanans have spoken loud and clear: keep politics out of our courts.”

Constitutional Initiative 133

Montanans approved a ballot measure to protect future ballot measures’ ability to make it onto the ballot Tuesday. As of 8 a.m., Constitutional Initiative 133 was passing with 65% of voters’ approving and 35% disapproving of the measure.

Montanans Decide, the group promoting the measure, celebrated its win in a press release Tuesday morning.

“These results show that Montanans support permanent protections for our ballot measure process,” said SK Rossi, Montanans Decide’s campaign manager. “Ballot measures are a part of what makes Montana, Montana — and despite attempts to weaken the process, everyday Montanans will continue to have a way to make their voices heard, hold government accountable, and vote directly on the issues that impact their lives.”

The initiative adds the right to initiative and referendum to the state’s Constitution, and enshrines a requirement for “impartial, predictable, open, and timely processes for ballot issues,” along with outlining several prescriptions toward that end. Proponents of the measure say ballot issues have “come under attack” in recent years.

Montana’s majority-Republican state Legislature has in recent years passed legislation to tighten regulations around ballot initiatives, including legislation barring foreign entities from funding ballot measures and requiring paid signature gatherers to declare their state of residence. The sponsor of those bills, state Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, previously told the Beacon his bills were also aimed at protecting the referendum process by promoting transparency.

The measure faced no formal opposition effort, though like the other two ballot measures, had to overcome a legal challenge during the signature-gathering process and opposition from the state’s Republican Party.

Rossi went on in the press release to thank volunteers who helped educate voters on the initiative.

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