Montana judge strikes down ballot envelope birth year requirement

Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan ruled Montana's absentee ballot envelope birth year requirement unconstitutional on October 5, 2026. The 2025 law, proposed by Representative Braxton Mitchell to prevent fraud, disenfranchised nearly 6,000 voters and caused a tenfold increase in rejected ballots in Missoula County. The ruling, arising from a lawsuit by Disability Rights Montana and Big Sky 55+, ensures envelopes lacking birth years will not be rejected in the 2026 general election.

Ruling on the birth year requirement

• ▪Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan ruled Montana's absentee ballot envelope birth year requirement unconstitutional on October 5, 2026.
• ▪Judge Mike Menahan ruled that the state of Montana failed to prove the birth year requirement prevented fraud or promoted public confidence in elections.
• ▪The ruling by Judge Mike Menahan ensures that Montana's 2026 general election absentee ballot envelopes missing a birth year will not be rejected.

Impact of the birth year requirement

• ▪Judge Mike Menahan stated that the birth year requirement on absentee ballot envelopes had disenfranchised nearly 6,000 Montana voters since the rule was created in 2025.
• ▪Missoula County Deputy Elections Administrator Sarah Bell stated that the birth year requirement caused a tenfold increase in rejected ballots during the fall 2025 municipal elections.
• ▪In Billings, Montana, the 2025 mayoral race was decided by 200 votes, while 627 ballots were excluded from counting because they lacked birth years.

Parties to the lawsuit

• ▪The lawsuit against the birth year requirement was brought by Disability Rights Montana and Big Sky 55+, representing people with disabilities and seniors.
• ▪Montana Secretary of State Christie Jacobsen defended the birth year requirement law on behalf of the state in court.

Absentee ballot administration

• ▪Montana election administrators will mail absentee ballots to voters on the absentee list on October 9, 2026.
• ▪Some Montana county election offices assigned staff to contact voters via phone, email, or mail when their absentee ballots lacked the required birth year.

Debatable claims

• ▪State legislatures have broad authority to restrict absentee voting procedures
• ▪Discarding ballots for minor administrative omissions damages public confidence in elections
• ▪Montana's ballot envelope birth year requirement is an unconstitutional barrier to voting