Montana Conservation Voters v. Jacobsen

(Filed: Oct. 30, 2023)

In 2023, the Montana Legislature passed Senate Bill 109 (“SB 109”), an unconstitutional gerrymander designed to ensure an exclusively Republican Public Service Commission. The new partisan map does away with decades of precedent that divides Montana’s PSC districts along county lines. The changes ignore traditional districting goals, splitting major cities and counties in two (and sometimes three), skewing the voting power in each district towards one party, and jigsawing Montana’s urban centers.

By discriminating on the basis of political party and identity, SB 109’s districting plan violates the Montana Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and suffrage. Montana elections must be free and fair—and that means allowing Montanans the ability to choose their elected officials at the ballot box, not rigging the game from the start. SB 109 must be declared unconstitutional and enjoined.