What role will the Legislature play in implementing CI-127?
As Montanans prepare to decide whether to pass two election reform initiatives this November, one common question arises from a provision in CI-127 that involves legislative action when the initiative passes.
CI-127 would require candidates to win a majority (50% + 1) of voters in the general election, meaning they have to appeal to a broad base of voters and be more responsive to the values of their constituents, not just a minority of voters. Currently, candidates can win with less than 50% of the vote, meaning voters have less power to hold elected officials accountable once they’re in office. CI-127 changes that.
CI-127, as written, states that if a candidate does not receive over 50% of the vote, “the winner of the election will be determined as provided by law.” That simply means that the legislature must decide whether a traditional runoff or an instant runoff is the most appropriate way to ensure a candidate has to earn majority support to represent us, a process that will happen in the 2025 legislative session.
Why is this important? Because CI-127 is a constitutional citizens’ amendment, it’s important to keep the initiative within the bounds of what is appropriate in our state’s highly-respected constitution. Enshrining a majority-winner principle in the constitution is important, but the how should be a process involving public input and worked out by our representatives in the legislature. This allows Montanans to weigh in a second time on how our elections are structured to ensure candidates win majority support from their constituents.
Under CI-127, the legislature will not have the authority to simply pick winners and losers. The legislature is not a tie-breaker. States across the country use different methods to implement majority winner elections, so this is not new or untested. Every citizen will have a chance to weigh in on their preference for how candidates win a majority of votes, an important public-input process in the months to come prompted and constrained by the requirements of CI-127.
Until then, voters get to decide: should candidates have to appeal to a majority of their constituents, giving voters more power to hold them accountable? Or do we want our leaders to win elections by appealing to the most extreme members of their parties, shutting out average voters from the process?
CI-127 gives voters the power to hold politicians accountable, something we believe should be the right of every Montana citizen.