Montana Supreme Court allows signatures of inactive voters to count on ballot petitions

Montana's Supreme Court is allowing the signatures of inactive voters to count on petitions seeking to qualify constitutional initiatives for the November ballot, including one to protect abortion rights. A state judge ruled last week that the Secretary of State's Office wrongly changed election rules to reject inactive voter signatures from three ballot initiatives. The secretary asked the Montana Supreme Court for an emergency order to block the state judge's ruling. The justices declined on Tuesday. Backers of the initiative to protect the right to abortion access in the state constitution have said more than enough signatures had been verified for it to be included on the ballot.