Proposed Election Changes

Montana has what is often called an “open primary” where a voter can select a ballot from any party, regardless of their party affiliation, and vote for which candidate of that party they want to advance to the general election. The general election then has one candidate per party and the candidate with the most votes wins the election.

In Ravalli County, where the Republican Party dominates the election, we all know that it’s the primary that has become the election that determines who becomes our elected officials.  As our country becomes more and more divided, it is the primary voters who are more extreme and ideologically driven who are electing more and more extreme candidates to represent their parties.

Cries to overhaul our elections are being voiced by those who believe this trend is bad for democracy, A ballot initiative campaign has started in Montana to change our election system to eliminate partisan primaries in which the top four candidates advance regardless of party, and to require a majority vote to win an election. If a winning candidate hasn’t won a majority of the vote the winner could be determined by ranked-choice voting in the general.

Since the primary and general are two distinct elections and are governed by the Constitution, two ballot initiatives are necessary and the State Legislature must be involved. It is a developing and complicated idea, with many moving parts.

Stay tuned and get informed. There are pros and cons, you be the judge whether this proposal will help encourage more candidates to run and the winners to be more accountable to all the citizens of their district.