Republican Rep. Jodee Etchart of Billings says candidates who lose in primary elections should not be allowed to then run as a third-party candidate in the same election.
“You can still file, you just can’t file against the same person you already lost [to], go ahead and move on.”
Most states have adopted so-called “sore loser” laws. Etchart is bringing House Bill 207 to add Montana to that list. It would also create new requirements for write-in candidates trying to get on the ballot.
Among those is a change that would require write-in candidates to only get signatures in support from active voters in order to appear on the ballot.
Gary Buchanan, a 2022 independent, congressional write-in candidate, spoke in opposition to the bill.
“This is an abuse of power by those who won, not who lost. I was a good loser,” he said.
Right now, all registered voters are eligible to endorse write-in candidates, regardless of status. Voters who skip a federal election or fail to respond to mail from election offices are deemed inactive, but are still registered. House Bill 207 would exclude those voters and limit the pool of eligible signatories for write-in candidates.
Voters’ “active” status was a point of contention last year.
Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen told local elections administrators to disqualify inactive voters from endorsing ballot initiatives after petitioners had turned in their signatures. A judge reversed that decision and required all registered voters to be counted.
Several other proposals are advancing related to the ballot initiative process.
House Bill 179 would disallow voters from reactivating their status by signing an initiative petition. House Bill 201 would require signature gatherers to disclose on their name tags whether they’re being paid. Senate Bill 226 would tighten the deadline for ballot initiative organizers to submit signatures to their county election offices for verification.
