Frequently Asked Questions

A ballot measure proposes a change to state law or the state constitution that voters decide by election after collecting enough signatures to get it placed on the ballot. 

Also known as a “citizen initiative” or “ballot initiative,” ballot measures are the people’s voice and ensure Montana citizens can propose laws that reflect our values. 

Ballot measures aren’t just for passing laws, they allow citizens to veto bad laws when government oversteps. CI-133 protects the Citizens’ Veto so we can keep government accountable to us.

Lobbyists and out-of-state interests have too much influence in Helena. That’s why we need CI-133. It protects citizens’ right to pass laws without interference from a government that caters to special interests and their money. Lobbyists can buy politicians, but ballot measures give voters the power to keep government accountable to us.

CI-133 provides constitutional protections for the ballot measure process by banning the government from taking sides on ballot measures and using taxpayer money to sway your vote. It requires impartial, predictable, open, and timely processes for approving petitions and ballot statements, resolving legal challenges, gathering signatures, and verifying signatures. 

See the complete text of CI-133.

The ballot measure process is facing death by a thousand cuts in Montana. State officials have rewritten ballot language, ordered valid signatures thrown out, and have attempted to block ballot measures via higher fees and political interference.

If CI-133 fails, the right to vote on ballot measures doesn't disappear, but it will remain unprotected, leaving the door open to new barriers that could make the process unusable for regular Montanans without access to millions of dollars. CI-133 itself had to go to the Montana Supreme Court simply to get to the signature gathering phase. Without CI-133, current roadblocks will stay in place and new ones will go up. The question isn't whether we lose ballot measures; it's whether the process will still work for Montana citizens when we need it.

Montanans Decide is a coalition of Montana voters who have come together to protect the ballot measure process in MT and safeguard our constitutional right to propose and vote on laws without interference from the government.  We filed the initiative and worked with teams of signature gatherers, volunteers and local organizations to collect over 100,000 signatures to get CI-133 on the November 2026 ballot.

Our coalition includes former Montana Secretaries of State who served from both sides of the aisle, and Montanans fighting to protect workers, democracy, and our right to hunt and fish on public lands.

No, protecting Montana's ballot measure process is not a partisan issue. The ballot measure process is used by everyone, and CI-133 protects it for everyone. Sixty-eight percent of Montana voters support CI-133. Republicans, Independents, and Democrats agree that we need to keep the power with Montana voters and not with politicians or outside special interests. Montanans know what is best for Montana, and CI-133 protects our right to propose and vote on laws that put our interests first. 

The ballot measure process has been used by groups across the political spectrum to pass laws that matter to Montanans. The ballot measure process has been used to cap taxes, protect hunting and fishing access, restrict lobbying, raise the minimum wage, tax marijuana to support conservation efforts, expand hunter safety education, provide children's healthcare, and keep the government out of our private medical decisions.