Backers of two ballot initiatives calling for nonpartisan elections for Montana courts are suing Attorney General Austin Knudsen for editing their ballot language .

Knudsen now faces three lawsuits for changes to initiatives intended to keep Montana court races nonpartisan. The group Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts filed two of those lawsuits Friday over the changes to two ballot measures they’re trying to get qualified for the November 2026 ballot.

Constitutional Initiative 132, if approved by voters, would amend the Montana Constitution to require that all judicial races be nonpartisan. Knudsen cleared the initiative for signature gathering but changed the ballot language to suggest that nonpartisan races hide a judge’s true party affiliation. One of Friday’s lawsuits challenges Knu

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