AP News reports that the Montana Supreme Court has ruled against the Attorney General for the second time in his handling of efforts to institute nonpartisan judicial elections by initiative. Ballot initiative,CI-131 proposes “a three-word amendment to the Montana Constitution, specifying that ‘Supreme Court justices and district court judges shall be elected in nonpartisan elections.’” The Montana Supreme Court found:
“The attorney general amended the ballot language with his own interpretation of what a nonpartisan ballot means to voters: ‘A non-partisan election prohibits labeling candidates on the ballot according to the political party the candidate aligns with, including labels like independent.’
. . . . That’s not the AG’s job, according to the court. If the petitioners’ ballot language is clear and impartial, justices said the language should be left alone.”
