Montana Supreme Court rules to decertify CI-97!

Court agrees pervasive fraud marred the process

Oct. 26: Today, the Montana Supreme Court brought justice to Montana voters by upholding a lower court ruling that prevents votes on Constitutional Initiative 97, Constitutional Initiative 98, and Initiative 154 from being counted in the November election. Read the Supreme Court's decision.

The high court upheld a decision by District Court Judge Dirk Sandefur. Judge Sandefur’s ruling de-certified all three initiatives, based on pervasive fraud committed by paid, out-of-state signature gatherers.

“The signature gathering process for CI-97, CI-98, and I-154 was permeated by a pervasive and general pattern and practice of deceit, fraud, and procedural non-compliance,” Judge Sandefur concluded.

The three coalitions opposing the initiatives, Not in Montana: Citizens Against CI-97; Montanans for Justice: Vote No on CI-98; and, Property Owners Against I-154, applauded the Supreme Court for making it clear that fraud will not be tolerated in Montana.

“The Supreme Court has upheld the integrity of Montana’s initiative process by ruling that Trevis Butcher and his wealthy east-coast supporters must not be allowed to benefit from these blatant violations of Montana law,” said Mike Meloy, attorney for the coalitions.

“Many Montanans were duped into signing petitions by signature gatherers who lied to collect names,” said Jackie Boyle, coordinator of Not in Montana. “These people are hired professionals, who move from state to state as part of a national anti-government movement. New York City multi-millionaire Howie Rich calls the shots and signs the checks. They don’t care about Montana or Montanans.”

“The court has made it clear that proponents of initiatives must follow the law in qualifying initiatives for the ballot,” said William Hunt Sr. of Helena, former Supreme Court justice and co-chair of Montanans for Justice.

“These committees had the choice to do it right, to follow the letter and spirit of Montana’s initiative laws; they chose instead to utilize out of state signature gatherers of dubious character who flaunted and broke Montana’s laws.”

“This entire campaign—from the fraud used in the petition drive to the hidden impacts of each of these ballot measures—was part of an national scheme to hoodwink Montanans into changing the face of Montana forever,” said Janet Ellis of Property Owners Against I-154.

“New York real estate mogul Howie Rich and his Montana front group got caught breaking our state’s laws, but Montana voters need to stay vigilant—because they’ll be back. We don’t need outside developers like Howie Rich telling us how to run Montana.”

Read news stories on the decision.