Pair of Initiatives Seek to Change Elections, Bolster Moderate Candidates

Many Americans express concern about how the political system is or is not working, but Montana voters will get a chance to change up the way elections are run in a way supporters hope will benefit more moderate candidates.

The changes are included in two separate constitutional amendments, CI-126 and CI-127, on this fall’s ballot.

CI-126 would amend the Montana Constitution to change the voting process to a “top four” primary election. This means that all candidates regardless of political party would appear on the primary ballot and the top four would advance.

Currently, Montana uses the partisan primaries to nominate candidates from their political party. So, for example, independent voters do not get to vote in a primary and only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary.

CI-126 would change that and allow all voters to select their top candidate and then the top four vote-getters would advance to the general election.

CI-127 is simpler. CI-127 would amend Montana’s constitution to require that in state state elections candidates would have to receive 50 percent of the vote plus one to win. CI-127, supporters said, would better represent Montanans’ votes more accurately and encourage people to vote.

Montana State University Political Science Professor Jessi Bennion, who often analyzes politics in the media, was quick to admit, “This is an initiative that I 100% support.”

“As a political scientist, I am looking for ways to decrease polarization to get more what I would call non-extreme candidates elected. And I also think that open primaries generally allow people to have more choice,” she said.

But others worry the changes could have negative effects on the process.

Shirley Miller, a local Republican Committeewoman in Jefferson County, submitted op-eds to several papers expressing her concerns that if CI-126 is passed then it would weaken political parties and give more power to less accountable advocacy organizations.

“It … means more special interest groups fighting for voters’ attention, likely leading to more polarized campaigns,” she wrote. “CI-126 represents a radical experiment that would make political campaigns more dependent on special interest money and keep accountable for the average voter.”

But according to most surveys, the average voter is pretty fed up with the current system. One survey from Pew Charitable Trust found only 4% of voters said they thought the current system was working extremely or very well.

First Generation Montanan and Veteran, David Oclander is one of those who wants a change. He is a spokesman for Vote Yes on CI-126 and supports CI-127. His involvement in the process is personal.

“When I was a commander [in Afghanistan], I lost nine of my kids [soldiers], it makes me think frequently about why we serve, the sacrifices we made, and why we continue to make these sacrifices,” Oclander said.

“As I look at our country today those two things are suffering, the beliefs and the ideals of the nation and the idea of brotherhood,” he said. Oclander believes that having both CI-126 and CI-127 will make our country less polarized and may help bring back the ideals and the sense of brotherhood/sisterhood back to the state.

While Montanan’s have organized and canvassed to get the measures on the ballot this year, the vast majority of the funds supporting the initiatives have come from two out-of-state political organizations – Article IV and Unite America PAC. These organizations have advocated for electoral changes in numerous states and have supplied $4.3 million to support the initiatives.

If one or both initiatives pass it would fall to people like Missoula’s Bradley Seaman to make it a reality.

 “Each voter would be learning a new process on what ballots look like for the primary election and general elections there is still some unknown on how that would be set up,” Seaman, the county’s Election Administrator, said

Seaman explains that if both CI-126 and CI-127 are passed, they are ready to accommodate whatever is needed. That includes more voter education around the new voting process, raising the budget for mailing ballots, and even more polling places.

Another implication, especially in the majority initiative passes would be an increase in runoff elections that could continue into late November or even December. However, Montana election offices would come up with a plan for how legislation interprets the proposed laws.