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Montana voters who have already read up on I-194, the corporate election spending measure, will find two more statewide questions on Tuesday’s ballot. Both are constitutional initiatives, both were put there by petition, and both deal with how much room the Legislature has to change the rules of Montana’s own democracy.
CI-132 is about judicial elections. CI-133 is about the initiative process itself. Neither would change anything voters see at the polls right away. What they would change is how hard it is for lawmakers to make future changes.
CI-132: five words about judges
The text of CI-132 is a single sentence: “Judicial elections shall remain nonpartisan.” It would add that line to Article VII of the state constitution.
Montana has elected judges without party labels since the 1930s, but that rule lives in state law. A legislative majority could change it. If CI-132 passes, putting an R or a D next to a judicial candidate’s name would take another constitutional amendment, which means a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and approval by voters, as KTVH explained.
The measure grew out of the 2025 session. Republicans brought several bills to make judicial races partisan after state courts struck down a series of GOP laws on voting and transgender rights. Those bills failed. One related change did pass: House Bill 39, which lets political parties give judicial candidates just under $90,000.
Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts, the committee behind CI-132, says judges should be chosen on their records and qualifications. Its backers include nine retired Montana Supreme Court justices, the ACLU and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association. Spokesperson Caitie Butler told NBC Montana that party labels would give judges an incentive to answer to party leaders. The campaign has drawn heavy outside money, including $1.6 million from the ACLU Foundation and $500,000 each from the National Education Association and the Fairness Project, according to reports cited by KTVH.
Opponents include the Montana Republican Party, which passed a resolution against CI-132 calling the state Supreme Court “a partisan Democrat bench,” and the Montana Family Foundation. Derek Oestreicher, the foundation’s chief legal counsel, argues that voters deserve as much information as possible about candidates, and that a party label is part of that. State Rep. Greg Overstreet, R-Stevensville, made a similar point, saying a letter after a candidate’s name would give voters “a morsel of information” about a judge’s worldview.
A yes vote locks nonpartisan judicial elections into the constitution. A no vote leaves the question with the Legislature.
CI-133: a right to propose laws
CI-133 is longer. It would add a new section to the Declaration of Rights in Article II stating that Montanans have a “fundamental right” to use the initiative and referendum, and that the government may not burden that right unless it has a compelling interest and uses the least restrictive means.
The measure then spells out what that right covers. Among the main pieces:
- Petitions and ballot statements must be approved within 90 days of the first submission, including any court challenges at that stage.
- Challenges to whether a measure qualifies must be settled before ballots are finalized.
- Petitions can’t be thrown out over minor or technical problems.
- Voters can withdraw their signature up to the signature deadline.
- Government resources can’t be used to support or oppose a ballot measure.
Supporters, organized as Montanans Decide, point to years of fights between initiative sponsors and the attorney general’s office over ballot language and legal sufficiency. CI-133 itself had to go to the Montana Supreme Court before signature gathering could begin, spokesperson Dani Hess told the Daily Montanan. In October, the court unanimously struck down four 2023 laws that restricted the initiative process, including a $3,700 filing fee. The attorney general’s office noted that most of the provisions lawmakers passed remain in place.
The Montana Chamber of Commerce opposes CI-133. Charles Robison of the chamber called the language vague and said nobody can be sure how courts will read it. “We’re throwing a wild card out there. I think it’s reckless and also unnecessary,” he told the Daily Montanan, pointing to the three measures on this year’s ballot as evidence that the current system works.
Like CI-132, much of CI-133’s funding comes from national groups. Montanans Decide reported $2.44 million in contributions since December 2025, with American Opportunity Action and the Fairness Project among the largest donors.
Casting the ballot
Constitutional initiatives pass with a simple majority of those voting on them. Polls are open until 8 p.m. Tuesday, and absentee ballots must reach the county election office by then; a postmark doesn’t count. Montana allows late registration through Election Day at county election offices, so anyone who isn’t registered can still sign up and vote in person.
Turnout was tracking close to 2022 levels heading into the weekend, with absentee returns above half. The full ballot language for all three measures is in the state voter information pamphlet and on the Secretary of State’s ballot issues page. Our earlier look at I-194 covers the third measure.