Photo Credit: Allison Saeng / Unsplash

Montana voters have a choice to make:

They can keep the state's partisan primary system, which decides elections in the state before most voters have a say. Or they can end party primaries and adopt a system that is open to all voters and candidates at the most critical stage of the process.

CI-126 is a state constitutional amendment on the November 5 ballot in Montana. Here is what it will do if it passes:

The measure replaces the state's partisan primary system with a nonpartisan top four primary similar to the system adopted by Alaska voters in 2020. All voters and candidates participate on a single primary ballot, regardless of political affiliation, and the top 4 vote-getters move on to November.

CI-126: The End to Taxpayer-Funded Party Primaries

Montana has an open partisan primary system, which allows independent voters to pick a party ballot. Voters are limited to the choices of a single party in these taxpayer-funded elections that historically have drawn low participation rates among voters.

"Many Montanans want to be able to vote for the person, not the party, but when they are forced to choose one party’s ballot, they are shut out from voting their preference for a candidate of a different party," wrote Montanans for Election Reform in a recent blog post.

"This is especially harmful for independent or third-party voters who are forced to choose a ballot with a slate of candidates who don’t match their values if they want to have any say in the election at all." Montanans for Election Reform is the group spearheading the CI-126 campaign.

The group exceeded the 60,359 signatures required by the state to put the measure for the November ballot. It turned in more than 200,000 signatures to certify CI-126 and another constitutional amendment, CI-127, which requires state elections to be decided by majority winner.

The campaign also notes that CI-126 has a specific provision that protects the signature gathering threshold for third parties to obtain ballot access in the primaries and forbids the legislature from raising the threshold -- but lawmakers can lower it.

"So why does Montana need open primaries? To take the power away from political parties and special interests and put it back in the hands of Montana voters," the campaign writes. "Open primaries mean better choices on the ballot, the freedom to vote for the person instead of the party, and more power to hold politicians accountable. CI-126 puts voters first."

CI-127: Only A Majority of Voters Can Decide Election Outcomes

Unlike Alaska's 2020 reform, CI-126 does not include ranked choice voting for general elections. In fact, Montana is one of 10 states with a statute that bans the statewide use of ranked choice voting, meaning even cities and counties cannot adopt it for their own elections.

Montanans for Election Reform, the group spearheading CI-126, is also sponsoring another constitutional amendment on the November ballot, CI-127. The measure requires state elections to be decided by a majority vote, though does not prescribe a specific solution.

Instead, it would be up to the Montana Legislature to decide how majority winners are determined. Currently, it is possible for a candidate to win an election with less than 50% of the vote if there are more than two candidates on the ballot.

"CI-127, as written, states that if a candidate does not receive over 50% of the vote, 'the winner of the election will be determined as provided by law,'" the campaign wrote in a recent blog post explaining the purpose and intent of the measure.

Importantly, the campaign notes: "Every citizen will have a chance to weigh in on their preference for how candidates win a majority of votes, an important public-input process in the months to come prompted and constrained by the requirements of CI-127."

The group, however, clarifies that this does not mean the legislature can pick winners and losers. "The legislature is not a tie-breaker. States across the country use different methods to implement majority winner elections, so this is not new or untested."

Does this mean ranked choice voting is possible? Yes, but that would mean state lawmakers would have to be willing to change their current stance on the voting method. CI-127 could just as easily lead to the establishment of runoff elections between the two candidates that do the best on Election Day.

CI-126 and CI-127 are in a unique position compared to other major nonpartisan election reforms on the ballot in other states because, according to Ballotpedia, neither has an organized opposition group spearheading a campaign against them.

This doesn't mean there isn't opposition. In fact, CI-126 is opposed by leaders of the majority party in the state. Montana GOP Chair Don Kaltschmidt accused the measure of being “a back door instant runoff voting scheme" -- even though CI-126 only reforms primary elections used, not the voting method.

CI-126 and CI-127 are on the November 5 ballot in Montana. Absentee ballots will be mailed out to voters starting on October 11. Any registered voter may request and vote by mail ballot. Voters can also cast a ballot in person on Election Day.