Montana Supreme Court Strikes Down Attorney General’s Nonpartisan Courts Ballot Rewrite
It’s the second edit from Austin Knudsen the state Supreme Court has ruled against, allowing Montanans for Fair and Impartial Judges to continue efforts to qualify their measure for the 2026 ballot
By Mariah Thomas
Montanans for Fair and Impartial Judges prevailed in a lawsuit it filed against Attorney General Austin Knudsen over his rewrite to the group’s ballot issue, which aims to keep the state’s Supreme Court and district court elections nonpartisan.
It’s the second such finding by the court, which came in a unanimous decision authored by Justice Katherine Bidegaray Thursday afternoon.
Montanans for Fair and Impartial Judges (MFIJ) filed the lawsuit challenging Knudsen’s rewrite on Constitutional Initiative 131 on Oct. 3.
During Knudsen’s legal review process, he rewrote the ballot language. He added a single line which read, “A nonpartisan election prohibits labeling candidates on the ballot according to the political party the candidate aligns with including labels like independent.”
Knudsen’s staff argued in court that his rewrite offers a more-clear explanation of the ballot issue. The court ruled that wasn’t his job.
“… the Attorney General’s statutory authority does not extend to improving or explaining ballot initiatives if the proponent’s proposed statement of purpose and implication is not statutorily deficient,” Bidegaray wrote in the Supreme Court’s opinion.
Knudsen added the same line to Constitutional Initiative 132, which would mandate all judicial elections be nonpartisan. That initiative, brought by the group Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts, also prevailed in a legal challenge about the attorney general’s rewrite in November. Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts had signed on as a party to MFIJ’s lawsuit as well.
The Supreme Court certified a ballot statement for CI-131 to the Secretary of State in its decision. That statement reads as follows: “This constitutional initiative would require that Montana Supreme Court and district court elections remain nonpartisan. Since 1935, state law has required that these elections be held without political party affiliation. This amendment would add that rule to the Montana Constitution, so it could only be changed by another constitutional amendment approved by voters.”
The pair of initiatives — CI-131 and CI-132 — aimed at maintaining Montana’s nonpartisan courts come on the heels of a legislative session where lawmakers narrowly defeated several attempts to attach partisan identifiers to judges’ names. A bill allowing political parties to contribute to judicial campaigns did win approval from lawmakers in 2025.