A second nonpartisan judicial elections ballot initiative received the OK of Montana’s attorney general Oct. 9, but with the same edits that triggered a lawsuit against the AG last week.

Constitutional Initiative 132 would amend the state Constitution to ensure that all judicial elections are nonpartisan. The push follows several failed attempts by state Republican lawmakers in the 2025 Legislature to make judicial candidates declare a political party. Those attempts were preceded by the Montana Supreme Court judging multiple Republican bills unconstitutional over the last five years.

Again, Attorney General Austin Knudsen has changed the petition language voters would see, a move that sparked a lawsuit last week when the AG did the same to a similar initiative.

The original CI-132 l

See Full Page