The Montana Supreme Court has vacated an injunction that would have placed a proposed data center initiative on Butte-Silver Bow County’s November ballot, saying it would not have granted the order had it known ballots had already been printed, mailed and, in some cases, returned.
The court issued the new order Sept. 24, two days after siding with initiative supporters and directing the county not to reject Local Initiative 00-02 over a disputed signature-submission deadline.
Butte-Silver Bow officials returned to the court Sept. 23 seeking guidance on how to comply, telling the justices that ballots without the initiative had already been printed and mailed and that some voters had already returned them.
The court said Montana election law provides no clear procedure for adding a ballot initiative after ballots have been prepared or for issuing a supplemental ballot to voters who have already cast ballots.
The justices said they continue to stand by the reasoning behind their earlier order — including the view that allowing voters to consider the initiative could be preferable to denying a vote on a measure later determined to have qualified — but said the existing ballot situation made the remedy impractical.
The court also criticized both sides for failing to make the ballot status clear before the Sept. 22 order was issued. The justices said filings by proponents 406 People First and Denise Kelly implied ballots had not yet been printed and mailed, while Butte-Silver Bow, which had taken no position on the injunction request, also failed to alert the court.
“The situation the parties and this Court find themselves in was entirely avoidable,” the court wrote.
Supporters proposed issuing a separate supplemental ballot containing only the data center initiative, including to voters who had already returned their general-election ballots. The court declined to order that approach, saying proponents had not explained how such a system could comply with Montana election statutes.
The initiative, backed by 406 People First, would require voter approval before certain data center projects could be authorized in Butte-Silver Bow County.
The dispute began after election officials initially told initiative organizers they had until Aug. 14 to submit petition signatures. Organizers were later informed that a 2025 change in state law required the signatures to be submitted earlier.
The Supreme Court’s Sept. 24 order vacates only the temporary injunction. The underlying appeal over whether the initiative properly qualified for the ballot remains unresolved.
An attorney for 406 People First said the group is asking the court to reconsider the latest ruling.
