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Several bills passed during the 2025 legislative session change state election laws governing elections, including how late Montanans can register to vote. Senate Bill 490, sponsored by Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, changes the deadline for registering to vote or changing voter information. Proponents said the bill would put an end to long lines of last-minute voters waiting, sometimes until after midnight on Election Day, to register and vote. The bill limits same-day registration to a four-hour period on Election Day, and ends the ability to...
There’s no question in Bruce Spencer’s mind that, in America, it’s the courts who get the last word on what laws are constitutional. It’s been that way for 222 years. But no matter how the lobbyist for the State Bar of Montana baited his argument for Republican lawmakers this week, he just couldn’t set the hook. Republicans have roughly 30 bills in the works at this year’s legislative session that propose changes to the courts, including one revising laws concerning the separation of powers doctrine. The change aims to give the legislative...
Montana lawmakers avoided another fight over transgender politics while crafting rules for the upcoming 2025 Legislature, saying they didn’t want the distraction. Members of the Joint Rules Committee narrowly rejected a proposal to limit bathroom access for transgender lawmakers. Several said banning transgender women lawmakers from women’s restrooms in the Capitol would only distract from the Legislature’s business. Rep. Jerry Schillinger, of Circle, proposed the ban. “It says what probably shouldn’t need to be said and puts in rules whe...