Cases & Actions

Western Native Voice v. Jacobsen

With the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Montana, and Native American Rights Fund (NARF), ELC challenged two Montana laws that burden Native Americans’ right to vote. On April 6, 2022, the court granted Plaintiff’s motion for Preliminary Injunction and enjoined the Secretary of State from enforcing both HB 176 and HB 530, as well as laws challenged by Plaintiffs in related cases.  

STATUS: ACTIVE
UPDATED: March 27, 2024
ISSUES: Vote Denial

VICTORY: On March 27, 2024, the Supreme Court of the State of Montana affirmed the District Court’s ruling.

VICTORY: On September 30, 2022, a Montana 13th Judicial District Court struck down HB176 and HB530. The court ruled that these laws violate several provisions of the Montana Constitution, including the right to vote, equal protection, free speech, and due process. 

On September 21, 2022, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed the preliminary injunction entered in April preventing enforcement of HB 176, which had eliminated Election Day Registration. The Court affirmed the lower court's earlier ruling, recognizing that HB 176 disproportionately burdens the state constitutional rights of Native American voters living on reservations. In this consolidated appeal, the Court also upheld the preliminary injunction of SB 169, which eliminated the use of student IDs as a primary form of voter identification. The State had not appealed the preliminary injunction of HB 530, which effectively ended third-party ballot assistance on reservations. A two-week trial in the case was held in August. 

Theresa J. Lee, Litigation Director at ELC reacted saying: “Our clients stood up for not only their own constitutional rights and the rights of all Native American voters in the state, but indeed for the rights of every single Montanan. The evidence they put forward was overwhelming, and we are thrilled that the court heard that evidence and struck down these suppressive laws.” 

BACKGROUND

This lawsuit was brought on behalf of two Native American-led organizations and four Native tribes in Montana. In the final weeks of the 2021 legislative session, Montana legislators passed two laws that would have made it substantially harder for Native Americans in Montana to vote.  

One of the new laws ended same-day registration (HB 176), which voters have relied upon since 2005. The other new law practically prohibited organized ballot collection on rural reservations (HB 530), in spite of the Thirteenth District Court ruling in Western Native Voice v. Stapleton in 2020, which found a similar law unconstitutional on multiple grounds.

“These laws are part of a broader scheme by the Montana legislature to attempt to cut out the Native vote. We stopped them before and we’ll do it again,” said NARF Staff Attorney Samantha Kelty.