Preliminary reports from the Montana Secretary of State’s office show voters won’t see any citizen-sponsored initiatives on the ballot this November. All four qualified measures failed to garner the signatures needed to make an appearance.
The failed measure that received the most signatures would have capped property tax hikes at 2%, while another sought to provide state funding for free preschool. That initiative received a single signature after it was approved in June, when the state Supreme Court ruled that Attorney General Austin Knudsen was wrong to find it legally faulty.
Two initiatives from the Legislature will still be up for a vote this fall: a constitutional amendment to include electronic data like text messages and emails in search and seizure protections, and a proposed policy that would inflict fines and jail time on doctors who do not attempt to save the life of an infant born alive after labor or a failed abortion.