Lawsuit targets 2023 double-voting bill

This story is excerpted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday.

Back in 2021, Republican-led changes to Montana election laws produced a pitched legal battle, with critics arguing that new voter ID requirements and a ban on same-day registration made it harder to exercise one of Americans’ most fundamental rights. Now a similar challenge has emerged against an election administration measure passed by this year’s Legislature that puts stricter requirements on voter registration.

On Oct. 3, the Montana Federation of Public Employees and the Montana Public Interest Research Group (MontPIRG) filed a lawsuit in federal court in Helena alleging that this year’s House Bill 892 violates the U.S. Constitution. The law was framed by proponents as an effort to prevent individuals from voting in two separate locations during a single election — what it refers to as “double voting” — by requiring that they provide previous registration information when registering to vote in a new location in Montana. Failure to comply with HB 892 could result in a $5,000 fine, 18 months in jail or both.

Rep. Lyn Hellegaard, R-Missoula, argued while carrying the bill that double voting is a “manipulation of the electoral franchise” that should not be tolerated in Montana. The measure picked up a smattering of Democratic votes in the House. 

In their court challenge, MFPE and MontPIRG counter that the new law goes much further than Montana’s previous ban on such activity, which simply stated that “no person may vote more than once at an election.” They also say they believe the new law isn’t clear enough about what information it requires would-be voters to provide and that the criminal penalties for failing to comply will “chill political expression in Montana by making it riskier for individuals to register to vote.” Taken together, the plaintiffs contend, that stacks up to a violation of the right to vote and the right to due process. They’ve asked the U.S. District Court in Helena to declare the law unconstitutional and to bar its enforcement.

Two of the three defendants — Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen and Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus — declined to comment on the litigation last week. A spokesperson for Attorney General Austin Knudsen, the third defendant, said Knudsen will “defend the law.” Knudsen’s office is expected to file a response to the complaint within the next month.