HELENA – A trial is scheduled to start Monday in Billings in a challenge to three state laws that the Montana Democratic Party, tribal organizations and youth advocacy groups argue were aimed at making voting more difficult for Native Americans, young voters, the elderly and people with disabilities.
District Court Judge Michael Moses will hear arguments on challenges to laws passed by the 2021 Legislature that eliminated Election Day voter registration, changed voter ID requirements for college students and banned paid collection of voted ballots. The trial is scheduled to last 10 days.
Moses in April temporarily blocked the enforcement of the laws. But the Montana Supreme Court allowed two of the laws to remain in effect for the June 7 primary — ending voter registration at noon the day before the election and requiring proof of residency in addition to a student ID to register and vote.
Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, has called the laws a “blatant and cynical attack on Montanans’ constitutional right to vote, specifically impacting young voters, Native voters, elderly and disabled voters, and voters who have trouble getting to the polls.”
Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen requested the bills as Republicans around the country changed voting laws in the wake of the November 2020 election and false claims by former President Donald Trump and his supporters that the election was stolen.
The state argued the new laws were needed to...
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