In two separate but related rulings, the Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen that a ballot measure that would have controlled judicial elections was unconstitutional, while allowing another to move forward, saying the wording his office proposed overstepped his authority.

Both measures involve the group Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts and challenged Knudsen’s decisions to reword the ballot statement on one, while declaring the other was constitutionally deficient. And both ballot initiatives are a part of a years’ long battle over the make-up and direction of Montana’s judiciary, including whether it should be partisan or nonpartisan.

Both challenges were brought simultaneously after Knudsen’s office approved Constitutional Initiative

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