Montana Plan Initiative Cleared to Gather Signatures, Would Ban Corporate Election Spending

A statutory initiative to ban corporations and other artificial entities from spending money on Montana political candidates or ballot issues has been cleared to begin collecting signatures, moving "The Montana Plan" closer to a November ballot appearance after a legally troubled start.

The Transparent Election Initiative announced in a press release Wednesday that its statutory version of the proposal, officially labeled Initiative I-194, received approval from the Secretary of State's office to begin the signature-gathering process. Jeff Mangan, the group's leader and a former Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, framed the clearance as a milestone for direct democracy in the state.

"We're grateful to the Attorney General and the Secretary of State for their work reviewing The Montana Plan," Mangan said in a statement. "With Initiative I-194 now cleared for signature collection, Montanans will have the opportunity to decide whether corporations and other artificial entities should be able to spend money influencing their elections."

The road to I-194 was not straightforward. The Transparent Election Initiative originally submitted a proposed constitutional amendment, but both the state's Attorney General and the Montana Supreme Court found the language violated Montana's "single subject" rule, which governs citizen initiatives. Rather than abandon the effort, the group resubmitted the constitutional version with simplified language and simultaneously filed the statutory initiative, which would create a new law rather than alter the state constitution.

The initiative enters the signature-gathering phase against a backdrop of growing anxiety over campaign spending in Montana. As primary races heat up across the state, candidates at a recent Democratic congressional primary roundtable discussed the need to reduce the role of money in elections. Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, who dropped out of his own re-election race, cited a desire to prevent a repeat of the expensive Senate contests Montana saw in 2024 and 2020.

Signature-gathering for Montana ballot initiatives has proven costly in recent cycles. A separate initiative that qualified for the 2024 ballot required sponsors to spend more than $1 million, with the firm Landslide Political collecting 60,359 valid signatures at a total cost of $1,027,183.50, roughly $17.02 per required signature. Those figures applied to a different measure, but they illustrate the financial undertaking that awaits TEI as it attempts to qualify I-194.

The legal environment surrounding Montana ballot petition drives has also been contentious. In Lewis and Clark County District Court, two groups, Montanans for Securing Reproductive Rights and Montanans for Election Reform, successfully sued Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen over signature verification procedures that had automatically rejected signatures from inactive but registered voters. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, affirming that registered voters retain the right to sign petitions regardless of their active or inactive status, a ruling with potential implications for any future signature review disputes involving I-194.

The specific number of signatures required to qualify a statutory initiative for the November 2026 ballot, and the deadline for submitting those signatures, were not detailed in TEI's announcement. The precise statutory text of I-194, including how the measure defines corporations, artificial entities, and the scope of prohibited spending, remains to be reviewed from official Secretary of State filings.