Christi Jacobsen

Bills seeking changes to election policy in Montana have advanced in the state Legislature.

The Montana Secretary of State’s Voter Information Pamphlet may have already landed in your mailbox, but it includes inaccurate information about when people can register to vote and what IDs are acceptable at the polls.

The future of three new Montana election laws are in the hands of a state judge. Attorneys recently concluded nine days of arguing over the laws' possible benefits and harms. A Yellowstone County judge plans to issue a decision on whether they meet constitutional muster “as soon as possible.”

Montana’s top political watchdog made an impassioned plea on Wednesday for state officials to combat election misinformation and hostility.

That means the two laws, which eliminate same-day voter registration and require voters to show photo identification when they cast a ballot, will likely regulate voting in the primary election on June 7. A lawsuit challenging the laws is still making its way through district court.

The judge’s block means four new laws can’t be enforced while the suit continues to play out in court. The new laws in question limit voter identification acceptable at the polls, restrict ballot drop-offs and eliminate same-day voter registration.

A panel of federal judges has struck down the current map outlining the districts for Montana’s utility oversight commission and implemented a new one. The order comes days before the filing deadline for candidates running for the commission.

An upcoming election of utility regulators is still up in the air after a panel of federal judges met Friday to consider the constitutionality of Public Service Commission districts.

Three federal judges will review a legal challenge pushing for the five current Public Service Commission districts to be redrawn because they are no longer equal in population.

Workers with the advocacy group Western Native Voice are setting up kiosks in places like libraries, community colleges and clinics that enable users to start the voter registration process.