Judge voids Montana ballot-envelope birth year rule

What the judge decided

Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan ruled Monday that Montana’s requirement to write a birth year on an absentee ballot return envelope is unconstitutional. He found that the rule had prevented nearly 6,000 voters from having their ballots counted since the 2025 Legislature created it.

The decision means election officials cannot reject a 2026 general election ballot because its return envelope is missing the voter’s birth year. The ruling came on the first day voters could receive absentee ballots in person at polling places. Election administrators were scheduled to mail ballots to voters on the absentee list Friday, Oct. 9.

The lawsuit was filed by Disability Rights Montana and Big Sky 55+, which represent people with disabilities and older Montanans. Secretary of State Christie Jacobsen, Montana’s top election official, defended the law for the state.

Why the requirement was challenged

Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, proposed the requirement. Legislators supporting it argued that adding a birth year would help prevent voter fraud, but Menahan found that the state did not demonstrate that the requirement served that purpose.

The rule first caused ballots to be disqualified during Montana’s fall 2025 municipal elections. Missoula County Deputy Elections Administrator Sarah Bell said at the time that rejected ballots increased tenfold compared with the primary election held before the requirement took effect.

Some county election offices contacted voters by phone, email or mail when their absentee ballot envelopes lacked a birth year.