New law could boost future attempts to get third parties on the ballot

[TexasTowelie]

Legislation signed into law last week allows any Montana voter to bring a petition placing a minor party on the ballot, which Republicans framed as fixing a deficiency in state code that thwarted their attempt to qualify the Green Party for the 2020 general election.

Senate Bill 350, sponsored by Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, was among a handful of measures requested by the new Republican Secretary of State, Christi Jacobsen, this past legislative session. It also sets out deadlines for petitions that seek to place a third party on the ballot for statewide elections.

Last year, the state Supreme Court ruled 5-2 against then-Secretary of State Corey Stapleton and tossed the Green Party off the 2020 general election ballot, finding the third party hadn’t authorized a signature-gathering effort bankrolled by the Montana GOP. Minor parties are sometimes seen as siphoning votes away from the two major parties, and Democrats have argued the left-leaning party’s inclusion was designed to disadvantage their candidates. The Libertarian Party, which can pull votes from Republican candidates, is already qualified for Montana ballots.

“The secretary was without statutory authority to accept the petition at issue in this case, which was not presented, endorsed, or sponsored by the Montana Green Party,” the justices wrote in the 2020 ruling.

Read more: https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/mtleg/new-law-could-boost-future-attempts-to-get-third-parties-on-the-ballot/article_18e218bf-bcdd-52eb-9add-1279300c912d.html

[PBC_Democrat]

1. This is not a bad thing ...

It puts a little more burden on the voter to become informed but the candidate's political party will always be very easy to spot.

Ideally, I'd love to see it paired with Ranked Choice Voting. Allowing someone to have the Green Party as their FIRST choice, the PROGRESSIVE party as SECOND choice then finally the DEMOCRATIC party as THIRD gives them the option to vote for the candidate they want the most without 'wasting' a vote.

Who knows ... might be more support out there for the Prohibition party than anyone is aware of (Damn, I hope not!).

More parties, more candidates, more participation in the process = good thing!

[2naSalit]

2. This is a retaliation move...

Because the shithead party tried to get the Green Party on the ballot here as a spoiler by funding the petition drive. They were not on the ballot because they were ordered illegitimate by the courts.

The Rs are also trying to kick everyone off the bench and plant their own loyalists in the courts.

Montana is experiencing a repeat of the last admin only at the state level from trashing the state Constitution to replacing every judge and unfair practices within the legislature to make sure there are never enough Democrats on committees to ever hold any power ever again.

Anyone wanting to see what would have happened if the former guy stayed in office can look to Montana to see exactly that. Fascism is running through Montana like a wildfire fed by gasoline.