Montana Supreme Court rules in favor of proposed nonpartisan judicial initiative

HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a group sponsoring a proposed ballot measure that would require the state’s judicial elections remain nonpartisan. It comes less than a month after they sided with the backers of a similar initiative.

Montanans for Fair and Impartial Judges is sponsoring Constitutional Initiative 131 , which would add three words to the Montana Constitution, to say state Supreme Court justices and district court judges must be elected “in nonpartisan elections.”

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen’s office ruled CI-131 met the requirements to go before voters, but they rejected MFIJ’s proposed ballot language and substituted their own version. MFIJ went to the Supreme Court, asking justices to overturn that decision.

Justices ruled unanimo