Ballot Issues

The Legislature may pass bills in order to

1. Refer a proposed law to the voters through a legislative referendum, or
   
2. Send a proposed constitutional amendment to the voters.

Any individual or group may petition to

1. Enact a law by initiative,
   
2. Approve or reject an act of the legislature by referendum, or
   
3. Amend the state constitution.

As a member of the public, when you propose a ballot issue, you must follow certain steps in order to get the issue on the ballot.

Drafting a Ballot Issue

1. First you must submit a draft of the proposed ballot issue to the Secretary of State's Office for review. This draft must include the text of the ballot issue, as well as draft ballot statements (the statement of purpose and the "For" and "Against" statements that you would like to appear on the ballot). The standard form such issues and statements must take is included in Title 13, Chapter 27 of the Montana Code Annotated (13-27-204 through 13-27-207) and in Senate Bill 96, passed in the 2007 Legislature.

2. The Secretary of State forwards the text and statements to the Legislative Services Division. This agency reviews the proposal for clarity and consistency, and for conformity with its bill drafting manual and for other legal requirements, and, if necessary, makes recommendations for revisions within 14 days of submission of the text and statements.

3. You respond in writing to Legislative Services, either accepting, rejecting, or modifying the revisions, if any.

4. You send your final text and ballot language to the Secretary of State, who forwards a copy of the proposed ballot issue to the Attorney General's Office.

The Attorney General's Office checks it for legality and the Secretary of State’s Office will work with you on the petition format.  If the Attorney General determines that a proposed issue is legally sufficient but that the ballot statements clearly do not comply with legal requirements, the Attorney General prepares statements that comply with applicable requirements and forwards them to the Secretary of State.  The review by the Attorney General must be completed within 30 days of when the Attorney General receives the draft ballot issue.

5. The Secretary of State notifies you of either the approval or rejection of the ballot issue by the Attorney General.

6. Once the ballot issue is approved, you may begin circulating it to collect signatures.

Collecting Signatures

1. To qualify an initiative or referendum for the ballot, you must get the signatures of 5 percent of the total number of qualified voters in the state, including 5 percent of the voters in each of 34 legislative districts (currently a total of 22,308 signatures). 

To qualify a constitutional amendment for the ballot, you must get the signatures of 10 percent of the total number of qualified voters in the state, including 10 percent of the voters in each of 40 legislative districts (currently a total of 44,615 signatures).

2. A person gathering signatures for an initiative, referendum, or to call a constitutional convention must be a resident, as provided in 1-1-215, MCA, of the state of Montana, and may not be paid anything of value based on the number of signatures gathered. 

3. Only registered voters may sign ballot issue petitions, and they must sign their name substantially the same way as they did on their voter registration card.

4. No one may knowingly sign a petition for the same ballot measure more than once or sign another person's name to a petition. Anyone who does so may be fined or sentenced to jail time.

5. You may post petitions on the Internet. The posting must include a statement that the petition format may not be modified.

6. Each sheet or section of up to 25 sheets of a petition must include an affidavit from the signature gatherer who was present at the time each elector signed the petition.  Prior language allowing individuals to sign the affidavits if they assisted in gathering signatures was removed by Senate Bill 96.

7. As signatures are gathered, each petition must be submitted to the election administrator in the county in which the signatures were gathered. The deadline for petition signatures to be received by county election administrators is June 20, 2008. The election administrator verifies the signatures.

8. Election administrators must certify all submitted petitions to the Secretary of State's Office before 5 p.m. on July 18, 2008.

9. The Secretary of State's Office tallies the gathered signatures and, if there are enough, the issue qualifies for the ballot.

Making a Case

1. As the sponsor of the ballot issue, you'll be asked to prepare an argument in support of the issue for use in the official state Voter Information Pamphlet, which is published by the Secretary of State. Certain elected officials will choose someone to prepare an argument against the issue, and then each side will have the opportunity to provide a rebuttal. In regard to arguments and rebuttals in the voter information pamphlet, factual statements must now be supported by documents filed with the Secretary of State within 2 business days of the date on which the arguments and rebuttals are required to be filed.

2. If the ballot issue passes, it becomes part of state law or the state constitution.

Ballot Issues

• 2008 Ballot Issues
• 2006 Ballot Issues
• 2004 Ballot Issues
• Past Constitutional Ballot Issues (1974-Present)
• Past Statutory Ballot Issues (1906-Present)
• Past Ballot Issues Submitted (1981-Present)

If you have questions about ballot issues, contact the Elections Bureau at (406) 444-5346, email soselection@mt.gov, or call the Secretary of State's toll-free voter hotline toll-free at 1-888-884-VOTE (8683).