Victory: Montanans’ Freedom to Vote Upheld After Anti-Voter Law Struck Down
Bozeman, MT — Last month, Montana voters scored a victory after a federal court ruled to block the state’s enforcement of HB 892, a law passed in May 2023 that established unnecessary barriers to registering to vote in the state under the guise of preventing double voting.
Under HB 892, voters and voter registration organizations were made responsible for ensuring that registration applicants somehow deregistered from a previous address before registering to vote in Montana. HB 892 would have also punished voters who do not provide detailed information — even if it is unintentionally omitted — about their previous place of residence when applying to register to vote. Voters who did not comply with these requirements, even if unintentionally, risked strict criminal penalties.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) initially filed a lawsuit in Montana state court on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Montana (LWVMT) in October 2023 to challenge the constitutionality of HB 892. CLC also filed a preliminary injunction in November 2023 to try and stop enforcement of the bill. The evidence from the hearing on LWVMT’s preliminary injunction was cited in a separate federal lawsuit also challenging HB 892. Because HB 892 is now permanently blocked, Montana and LWVMT have agreed to dismiss the state case.
“Our democracy works best when every voter can participate and civic organizations can freely express their pro-voting message,” said Danielle Lang, senior director for voting rights at Campaign Legal Center. “The fact that our state court lawsuit served as a catalyst to end enforcement of HB 892 under a different case reinforces our belief that states should be working to implement, rather than hinder, pro-voter reforms. Montanans deserve to register to vote free from fear, and CLC will continue to remain vigilant against other threats to democracy in the Mountain West.”
"We are relieved to know that HB 892 has been permanently invalidated by the federal courts," said Nancy Leifer, President of the League of Women Voters of Montana. "Now Montana voters can register to vote without the threat of a felony conviction if they inadvertently are registered in two places at once, or fail to complete past registration location information correctly. The League will continue to protect Montana voters' ability to register and vote should problems arise in the future."
Both Montana and the federal government have laws already in place to punish and prevent double voting. However, HB 892 attempted to shift the burden of deregistering at a past address from the state and onto voters, despite the state having no clear process to do so.
If this law had been allowed to stand, nonpartisan civic engagement groups like LWVMT would have also been discouraged from and perhaps faced criminal penalties for carrying out their vital work to promote voting through registration, outreach and public engagement — which is a violation of the group’s constitutionally protected rights.
Should Montana try to illegally enforce HB 892 again despite the federal court’s order, LWVMT could refile its lawsuit. CLC will continue to advocate for Montanans’ freedom to vote and nonpartisan civic engagement groups against future attempts to limit their rights at the expense of our democracy.
More information on the latest updates regarding this case be can found on CLC’s case page.
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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.
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