A Montana district court has ordered a temporary halt on a new law aimed at restricting Election Day voter registration and tightening the hours voters can register in the days leading up to it, while upholding a new voter identification law.

In a 22-page order on Friday, District Court Judge Adam Larsen granted a preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 490, a bill sponsored by Senator Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka. With the ruling, the state’s existing rules stay in place, allowing voters to register to vote on Election Day as long as they are in line by the close of voting hours.

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“Unions like ours are organized around the fundamental right of every voice to be heard and every vote to count in our workplaces and society,” said Amanda Curtis, president of the Montana Federation of Public Employees, which brought the lawsuit against the state and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen. “Montanans voted to protect same day voter registration a decade ago, and today MFPE members are proud to have defended this right from overreaching politicians.”

Cuffe’s bill had tightened the deadline for voters to register to vote to noon on the day of the election, and eliminated registration on the Monday before an election, but opened it up on the prior Saturday.

Cuffe also sponsored Senate Bill 276, which implemented voter ID laws.

Under existing law, anyone in line at the ballot box by 8 p.m. on Election Day could register to vote, which in 2024 led to long lines at some precincts, including voters who waited until after midnight to register and cast their ballots in Gallatin County.

Cuffe cited the Gallatin County example in an opinion piece published by Lee Newspapers last spring, as a reason for passing the bill.

“The intent is to smooth out the process and avoid votes being cast many hours beyond the intended closing of the polls at 8 p.m.,” Cuffe wrote.

But MFPE sued, pointing to a Montana Supreme Court decision from 2024 that struck down a law passed in 2021 eliminating Election Day voter registration.

Larsen cited that decision in his order, writing that “For nearly two decades prior to the enactment of SB 490, Montana voters have utilized election day registration throughout the entirety of Election Day,” and it has become “wildly popular,” and its use has grown over time.

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“The Supreme Court also found that the number of voters late registering on Election Day is nearly equal to the number of voters who late register during the preceding 29 days combined,” Larsen wrote in his order. “Election Day Registration serves as a critical safeguard for Montana voters who encounter issues with their voter registration.”

Larsen also wrote the law as written only applies to voters registering for federal elections, but allows registration for state elections for all of Election Day, creating a “bifurcated system,” which would impose additional burdens on election officials.

He also said that some Montana precincts do not open until noon on Election Day, which means voters in those areas would be wholly deprived of same-day registration.

Senate Bill 490 would “disproportionately impact certain groups of voters, including Native American voters and young voters,” the order states.

A group of tribal nations, including the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the Blackfeet Nation, the Fort Belknap Indian Community, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and tribal advocacy nonprofit Western Native Voice, joined the lawsuit challenging SB 490 as intervenors.

Larsen found that the state did not present “competent evidence demonstrating that SB 490 reduces administrative burdens or improves election efficiency,” and likewise did not present “evidence of voter fraud associated with Election Day Registration.”

“The State of Montana could not provide a compelling government interest justifying this voter suppression law because there simply isn’t one,” said Alex Rate, deputy and legal director at ACLU of Montana, which represented the tribal nations and Western Native Voice. “Election Day voter registration is secure, it’s fair, and – with this ruling – it continues to be protected in Montana.”

Last August, the Republican National Committee and the Montana Republican Party filed to intervene in the lawsuit, saying a ruling declaring the laws unconstitutional would “undermine Republican voter confidence in the electoral system and create administrative problems that could undermine Republican turnout.”

The State GOP and the RNC did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

With Larsen’s ruling, “Election Day registration shall remain available to all eligible voters for the full duration of Election Day,” for the state’s primary election in June.

The Secretary of State’s Office recently sent out mailers to voters to inform them of new election laws, including changes to voter registration dates. The information about federal registration ending at noon on Election Day is no longer accurate given the district court ruling.

A spokesperson for Jacobsen’s office said the voter outreach program had been planned months ago, and was timed to hit mailboxes at the same time as ballots.

“This type of mass confusion is why courts shouldn’t get involved when the election is already underway,” said Richie Melby, pointing out that the Supreme Court has blocked district court rulings in similar scenarios. “You can see why it’s challenging for election officials to fully prepare for an election with the back-and-forth judicial tennis match instigated by East Coast activists.”

Voter ID law stands

The lawsuit also challenged Senate Bill 276, which Cuffe also sponsored, but Larsen ruled an injunction blocking the law was not necessary.

The law changed photo identification requirements for voting in Montana, including expanding the variety of ID options allowed to include tribal photo ID cards, military IDs, U.S. Passports, driver’s licenses and student ID cards.

While previous legislation invoking voter ID laws has been considered unconstitutional by the courts, Cuffe said his bill was specifically aimed at voter identification at the polls, and not voter eligibility requirements.

His bill eliminated a requirement that voters with student IDs provide proof of residence at a polling place, which had been part of a previous law overturned in 2024, but the law added a provision that an ID must be “current, valid and readable.”

“The evidence currently before the Court does not establish that any eligible voter has yet been denied the right to vote pursuant to SB 276,” Larsen wrote in his order.

Compared to the law that changed registration rules, Larsen said that this law does not “eliminate a voting mechanism” or prevent eligible voters from taking part in the process.

Plaintiffs and intervenors in the case are represented by Graybill Law Firm, Elias Law Group, and Upper Seven Law, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Native American Rights Fund.