Court rejects challenge to Montana ballot measure to curb corporate spending in elections

A legal challenge by industry groups to intercept a ballot initiative intended to curb corporate spending in state elections was denied this week by the Montana Supreme Court.

In a 7-0 decision, the court denied a petition from a coalition that includes the Montana Mining Association, Montana Chamber of Commerce and others, ruling that striking down the proposal — identified as Ballot Measure No. 10 — would be premature.

"Here, as Ballot Measure No. 10 has not even qualified for the ballot, opining on the substantive constitutional issues would be unquestionably advisory," Justice Beth Baker wrote in the opinion. "This court does not issue advisory opinions."

The groups challenging the measure argued it set out to violate the free speech rights extended to corporations in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case called Citizens United. If businesses ran afoul of the proposed law, they would lose their ability to operate in Montana.

The ballot measure is being run by Transparent Election Initiative, led by former Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan.

"We’re grateful for the Montana Supreme Court’s swift and unanimous decision, which reaffirms the right of Montanans to participate in the initiative process and have their voices heard," Mangan said in a statement Wednesday. "Our focus can now return to what this effort has always been about: collecting signatures from Libby to Sidney and continuing to build a grassroots movement led by everyday Montanans."

The Montana Mining Association (MMA) was lead plaintiff in the petition filed with the Supreme Court last month.

"While we are still reviewing the decision, our coalition will discuss the next best steps," MMA executive director Matt Vincent said in an email on Wednesday. "Rest assured that we remain committed to defending the free speech rights of our constituent members, which include small businesses and some of our state's largest local employers. Our belief is that Montana is best served when all voices are allowed to participate in the democratic process."

In Tuesday's decision, the Montana Supreme Court cited a 2018 case which the Montana Mining Association also led a lawsuit against a ballot initiative called I-186; had it been approved by voters, the state would have been required to deny all permit requests for hardrock mines that required continuous water treatment.

In that case, MMA sued the state attorney general because that office determines whether ballot initiatives are legally sufficient, and the secretary of state, whose office administers the elections process, which includes ballot initiatives. MMA followed the same route in the case decided this week.

The Supreme Court in 2018 determined, as it did this year, that MMA's arguments were outside of the scope of the attorney general's legal-sufficiency review and also beyond the court's pre-election initiative review.

"Pre-election judicial review is disfavored because the people of Montana have a right to 'change the laws of this state through the initiative process,'" is the line from the 2018 decision that justices cited Tuesday in their decision regarding Ballot Measure No. 10.

The Transparent Election Initiative, which continued gathering signatures during the brief legal challenge, needs a little more than 30,000 signers to endorse the measure by late June in order to reach the general election ballot.