Judicial-election measure nears ballot after signatures delivered in Helena

Helena’s Lewis and Clark County Elections Office became the hinge point for two very different Montana ballot fights on Wednesday: supporters of Constitutional Initiative 132 delivered some of their final signatures, while property-tax measures dropped out of the running. For Lewis and Clark County voters, the result is a ballot that could still include one major courts question, but not the tax relief ideas that had been circulating alongside it.

CI-132 would amend the Montana Constitution to keep judicial elections nonpartisan. Supporters had said they needed more than 60,000 registered-voter signatures to qualify, and they brought their petitions to Helena after building support since 2025, when lawmakers again failed to enact a change that would have added party labels to judicial races. The measure now moves into verification and official review, which will decide whether Montana voters see it in November.

The stakes are local as well as statewide. If CI-132 reaches the ballot and passes, judges running in Montana would stay outside party labels, preserving the current system for Helena-area voters filling out their ballots in Lewis and Clark County. If it fails, supporters lose the chance to lock that rule into the Constitution, and future legislatures could once again try to put partisan branding on judicial contests. That fight has already been tested: lawmakers debated party labels for judicial elections in each of the last three legislative sessions, but nothing passed in 2025.

The property-tax side moved in the opposite direction. Those measures will not move forward, removing another round of tax policy from consideration even as Montana’s 2025 property-tax changes and 2026 homestead and long-term rental application system continue to shape what homeowners pay. Gov. Greg Gianforte and Department of Revenue Director Brendan Beatty already extended the 2026 application deadline to March 20 because of portal problems, and the state has said nearly 80% of homes were expected to see a tax cut, with average savings above $500, not counting an up-to-$400 rebate.

The split tells a political story about where organization and public appetite currently sit in Montana. The judicial-election campaign got enough signatures to reach the county elections office in Helena and keep moving; the tax measures did not. In a year when the June 2 primary drew about 37.9% turnout statewide, the campaigns that can marshal volunteers, paperwork and a clear message are the ones most likely to shape the November ballot.