Top election official blocks thousands of 'inactive voter' signatures from ballot proposals, sparking lawsuit

Thousands of signatures for constitutional initiatives are in legal limbo after Montana’s top election official abruptly changed the standard for determining which voters are eligible to sign a ballot petition.

The move to not permit signatures from voters listed as “inactive” comes as county election administrators around Montana are vetting stacks of signed petitions submitted by the sponsors of three distinct proposals that could appear on the November ballot: CI-126 and CI-127, which deal with statewide election reform, and CI-128, which would enshrine abortion rights in the Montana Consti...