Judicial election ballot measure submits signatures, property tax measures won't move forward [View all]

[RandySF]

HELENA — Around Montana, you’ve likely seen signature gatherers, asking people to sign petitions to get proposed ballot measures before voters this year. Now, the deadline for getting those signatures is fast approaching – but the sponsors of one measure believe they’ve already done enough to qualify.

Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts, the committee behind Constitutional Initiative 132, turned in some of their final signatures to the Lewis and Clark County Elections Office in Helena Wednesday. They say they’ve gotten more than 100,000 signatures – well over the 60,241 they’d need to get on the ballot.

“We got so much positive feedback out in the field from volunteers who are gathering and saying that to a lot of voters, this is just a no-brainer,” said Caitie Butler, a spokesperson for MNC.

However, that number could still change. Election officials will be checking each signature to make sure it’s valid – that it’s from a registered voter, that it was turned in to the correct county, and that it matches the signature on file. In addition, ballot measures need a minimum number of signatures in a specific number of state legislative districts, to ensure the support isn’t coming from just one part of Montana. The final number of accepted signatures is typically significantly lower than the initial amount supporters turn in.




https://www.ktvh.com/news/montana-politics/judicial-election-ballot-measure-submits-signatures-property-tax-measures-wont-move-forward#google_vignette