Montanans for Nonpartisan Courts filed signatures for a ballot initiative that would add a section to the Montana Constitution stating that “Judicial elections shall remain nonpartisan.” Montana has used nonpartisan judicial elections since 1936. If the amendment is approved by voters in November, making judicial elections partisan would require another voter-approved constitutional amendment to enact.
In Montana, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, which equals 60,241 signatures for the 2026 cycle. Montana also has a distribution requirement that requires proponents to collect signatures equal to 10% of the qualified electors in each of two-fifths (40) of the state's 100 legislative districts. The committee reported submitting more than 100,000 signatures to county officials on June 10 for verification. The deadline to submit signatures to county officials is June 19. County officials have until July 17 to file certified petitions with the secretary of state.
The initiative has been endorsed by the ACLU of Montana, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, Montana AFL-CIO, Montanans for Fair and Impartial Judges, and nine former state supreme court justices.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Mike McGrath said, “It’s simple - judges should be elected based on their record and qualifications alone. Montana citizens deserve to have their cases decided by independent judges, based on the law and facts of each case, without regard to party affiliation.”
The Montana Republican Party passed a resolution formally opposing the initiative in April. The resolution said, “The MTGOP believes Montana should retain judicial elections, but reform them to be free, fair, and honest by allowing candidates to run with a political designation if they so choose, in keeping with their basic First Amendment rights, as well as giving voters the knowledge they need to make an informed decision.”
Montana has elected its judges since 1889, when it ratified its first constitution and became a state. Initially, they were chosen in partisan elections. The law was changed to create nonpartisan elections in 1909, but that change lasted only one election cycle, as the Supreme Court found the nonpartisan system unconstitutional in 1911. The state legislature adopted nonpartisan judicial elections again in 1935, which were not successfully challenged until 2012 when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Montana's ban on political party endorsements of judicial candidates to be unconstitutional.
Montana voters last decided on a constitutional amendment related to state judicial elections in 1992. Voters approved a legislatively referred constitutional amendment to authorize the state legislature to provide by law for the election of state supreme court justices and district court judges and establish a procedure for filling vacancies in the state constitution. It was approved with 74% of the vote.
Judicial selection varies by state. At the state supreme court level, 13 states use nonpartisan elections, nine states use partisan elections, five states use gubernatorial appointment, two states provide for legislative election of justices, and the remaining 22 states use an assisted appointment method, except for Michigan, which uses a process that combines nonpartisan general elections preceded by a partisan candidate selection process.
In Montana, there is a state supreme court, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. The seven justices of the Montana Supreme Court are selected in nonpartisan elections to eight-year terms. When their term expires, they must run for re-election (or retention if they are unopposed) if they wish to remain on the court. Like the Supreme Court justices, the 46 judges of the Montana District Courts are chosen in nonpartisan elections. They serve six-year terms. Policies on re-election and the filling of interim vacancies are shared with the Supreme Court. Judges of the Montana Water Court are each appointed to a four-year term by a majority vote of a committee composed of district court judges. Judges of the Montana Workers' Compensation Court are each appointed to a six-year term by the governor after being selected by a commission.
Twelve initiatives were proposed in Montana for the 2026 ballot. No measures have been certified for the ballot in Montana for 2026.
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