This year Montanans voted on two election reform ballot measures CI-126 and CI-127. As of Wednesday afternoon, the votes tallied had both measures down and at least CI-127 appearing to fail.
If CI-126 passes, all candidates will appear on the same primary ballot, with their preferred political party or “no party preference” listed. Voters will choose one candidate for each office, and the top four finishers, regardless of party, will move on to the general election.
As of 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, CI-126 was down 48% in favor to 52% against with 537,143 votes cast.
Montanans for Election Reform, the bipartisan group backing CI-126, said the race was still tight with around 80,000 votes left to be counted in the state.
“Today is a disappointing day as we see politicians and special interests once again succeed at stopping Montanans from gaining more power in our elections,” said Frank Garner, MER Board member. “We fought hard against the entrenched politicians and special interests who didn’t want to give voters more voice and better choices on the ballot because the current system benefits them, not voters. We still believe open primaries are a powerful tool to hold politicians accountable and put the power over our elections back in the hands of voters, but they aren’t the only path forward. We will continue to stand up for freedom and choice in our elections.”
CI-127 would have changed the rules for the general election. Instead of just the candidate with the most votes winning, it would require a candidate get a majority – at least 50% of the vote – to win. The Legislature will have to pass a law to set up the rules for what happens if no candidate gets a majority; Garner said he sees runoff elections or a ranked-choice system as the two realistic possibilities.
As of 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, CI-127 was down 39% in favor to 61% opposed with 528,778 votes cast.
Montanans for Election Reform, the bipartisan group backing CI-126
