Dear Editor: HB207 Is Keeping Montana Citizens Off the Ballot

Dear Editor,

There's an effort in the legislature to keep Montana citizens off the ballot.

HB 207 hasn't made many headlines, but the bill is an attempt to make it harder for Independent, third-party, and write-in candidates to qualify for the ballot in districts across Montana. Independents already face a higher barrier to getting on the ballot than candidates from the Republican or Democratic parties, and we shouldn't make it even harder for those who don't affiliate with our two major parties to compete and earn the votes of Montanans.

I ran as an Independent candidate for Congress in 2022....