Montana Democratic Party v. Jacobsen

In 2021, the Montana legislature enacted new laws that made it unlawful for (1) voters to use absentee ballots if they had not yet qualified to vote but would by election day, (2) voters to register to vote after noon the day before election day, and (3) paid individuals to collect absentee ballots from voters. Previously, provisional voters could vote absentee, voters could register on election day, and existing laws already prohibited ballot-collection fraud. The Montana Democratic Party and several public-interest groups (collectively, the public-interest groups) (plaintiffs) sued Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen (defendant) in Montana state court, alleging that the new laws violated the Montana Constitution’s voting protections. Jacobsen claimed that same-day voter registration slowed voting tabulation and that absentee-ballot collecting raised concerns of validity, but she did not present admissible evidence supporting either claim. The public-interest groups pointed out that vote tabulation already extended beyond election day due to other requirements. These groups presented evidence that the framers of the Montana Constitution intended to allow same-day registration, over 70,000 Montanans—primarily young and Native American voters—had used it, and Native American voters often relied on ballot collectors due to geographic and historical barriers. The trial court ruled all three laws violated the Montana Constitution and entered judgment for the public-interest groups. Jacobsen appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.