Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen went too far in editing ballot language for an initiative calling for nonpartisan court elections, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

With two judges dissenting, the justices sided with Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts, ruling that changes Knudsen made to Constitutional Initiative 132 would “mislead voters and prevent them from casting an intelligent and informed ballot.”

The initiative, if approved by voters, would amend nonpartisan court races into the Montana Constitution. In October, Knudsen approved CI-132 for signature gathering. To qualify for the 2026 November ballot, the petition needs 60,000 Montana voters to sign on.

But the attorney general also changed the ballot language for CI-132. Knudsen’s language states that “a non-partisan

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