Montana Republican Party financed $100k signature gathering effort, more than 500 signatures deemed invalid
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS // AUG 7, 2020

Flathead Beacon
HELENA — A judge on Friday ordered Green Party of Montana candidates removed from the November ballot after finding the secretary of state improperly rejected requests by voters to have their signatures removed from petitions that qualified the minor party for the races.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued they did not know the Montana Republican Party was behind the effort to qualify Green Party candidates for the ballot.

District Judge James Reynolds said the removal requests of more than 560 people were valid and without those signatures, the Green Party representatives did not have enough signatures in enough legislative districts to appear on the ballot.

The candidates were certified for Montana’s primary ballot on March 6, but it was not disclosed until March 24 that the Montana Republican Party had financed the $100,000 signature-gathering effort.