In the latest installment of inactive-voter-gate, the Daily Montanan reports on what must have been a tough week for the schemers at SOS and AG and in the state Republican party in their efforts to abuse the power of their offices and undermine the constitutional rights of Montanans to propose and vote on constitutional amendments.
On Tuesday the Montana Supreme Court rejected Christi Jacobsen’s appeal for them to assume supervisory control of the lawsuits challenging her mid-process decision to disqualify registered but inactive voters as legal signatories to the petitions.
On Friday the Lewis and Clark County judge who had issued the TRO last week made it official with preliminary injunction on Friday “that says inactive voters’ signatures must count as valid signatures for three proposed ballot issues that are poised to be on November’s ballot once signature totals are certified by the Secretary of State’s Office”.
New court documents revealed that Jacobsen had apparently cut a deal with some state Republicans who had sued her office in Lake County over the inactive voter issue, with her agreement not to count them as the resolution of that lawsuit.
A formal injunction agreement was ready on Friday but could not be formalized because lawyers from the SOS office were nowhere to be found, apparently dodging efforts to serve them subpoenas. Counsel for the groups submitting the petitions and opposing Jacobsen’s ruling had wanted to discuss the issue further in open court.
Very interesting story peeling back even more layers of the scheming of state elected officials SOS Christi Jacobsen, AG Austin Knudsen, and Republican allies to deny Montanans their constitutional rights. These people really need to go.
https://dailymontanan.com/2024/07/26/judge-grants-injunction-saying-inactive-voters-signatures-must-be-counted-for-petitions