Friday was a make-it-or-break-it day for proposed statewide ballot initiatives. Petition signatures had to be submitted to county elections officials Friday.
The fate of some proposed initiatives is already known. One, which would have limited most local governments’ property tax increases to no more than 2% annually was suspended a couple of weeks ago.
Meanwhile, organizers behind The Montana Plan say they’re confident it’s set to qualify for November’s ballot. I-194 aims to restrict "dark money" and corporate influence in Montana elections.
Former Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan is spearheading the Montana Plan campaign. Mangan says that as of June 18, hundreds of unpaid volunteers have collected nearly 50,000 signatures.
“We’re confident we’re close to 42,000 verified signatures with about 8,000 left to count, or so."
The measure needed more than 30,000 verified signatures to qualify for the ballot. Mangan expects a big pushback this fall.
"Millions and millions of dollars will be spent to confuse folks to do everything that we want I-194 to stop in the future," Magan says.
Other ballot measures, including one to add nonpartisan judicial elections to the state Constitution have also submitted signatures to county officials. Those officials have until mid-July to submit them with the Secretary of State’s office.
