{"id":27383,"date":"2022-08-16T14:16:42","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T18:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=27383"},"modified":"2022-08-16T14:17:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T18:17:32","slug":"montana-free-press-native-voters-battle-ballot-restrictions-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/08\/16\/montana-free-press-native-voters-battle-ballot-restrictions-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana Free Press: Native voters battle ballot restrictions in court"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Yellowstone<\/a>
A trial over Native voting rights opened in the Yellowstone County Courthouse in Billings, Montana, on August 15, 2022. Photo: Sara goth<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Court strikes down new ballot distribution law<\/div>\r\n
According to a Yellowstone County judge, the Legislature\u2019s restriction on ballot distribution to young voters violates the Montana Constitution.<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, August 16, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Alex Sakariassen<\/div>\r\n
Montana Free Press<\/DIV>\r\n
montanafreepress.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nA district judge in Yellowstone County last month struck down new restrictions on ballot distribution in Montana, declaring the law a violation of the state\u2019s Constitution.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nThe order from Judge Michael Moses emerged from an ongoing consolidated lawsuit against the secretary of state\u2019s office<\/a> challenging four election administration laws passed by the Montana Legislature in 2021. One of those laws \u2014 House Bill 506<\/a> \u2014 barred county election officials from distributing ballots to minors who would turn 18 during the month leading up to Election Day. Moses\u2019 ruling removes the HB 506 question from the case, which is otherwise scheduled for trial August 15<\/a>.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cYoung people\u2019s participation in democracy is essential,\u201d said Kiersten Iwai, executive director of the nonprofit Forward Montana Foundation, in an emailed statement Wednesday. \u201cToday, the court affirmed what we already knew: restricting access to the ballot is an obvious wrong.\u201d

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Court Order: Western Native Voice v. Jacobsen [PDF<\/a>]<\/div>\r\n
WesternNativeVoicevJacobsen<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe Forward Montana Foundation is one of the plaintiffs in the consolidated lawsuit. Other plaintiffs include the University of Montana-based Montana Public Interest Research Group (MontPIRG), Montana Youth Action, the Indigenous rights nonprofit Western Native Voice<\/a>, and the Montana Democratic Party.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\r\nLast month\u2019s pretrial resolution of the HB 506 challenge was the result of dueling requests by Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen and the plaintiffs for summary judgment. Jacobsen\u2019s legal team had argued that the right to vote under the Montana Constitution does not extend to absentee voting \u2014 the primary avenue by which minors would receive a ballot ahead of an election \u2014 and that HB 506 is necessary to ensure that only qualified voters receive mail-in ballots. The Forward Montana Foundation, MontPIRG and Montana Youth Action countered that the law unfairly singles out a subset of voters<\/a> and violates their constitutional right to vote. Moses agreed with the plaintiffs.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n\u201cHB 506 needlessly forces one subgroup of the electorate to vote in person and impermissibly denies this subgroup access to an avenue of voting that all others in the electorate can avail themselves of,\u201d Moses wrote in his order.

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