Judge issues pause on local government retroactively changing a signature-gathering deadline
By Micah Drew DAILY MONTANAN
A district court judge has issued a temporary pause on Butte-Silver Bow’s ability to retroactively change a deadline for a citizens group to gather signatures for an initiative that would put limits on data center construction.
A grassroots organization, 406 People First, received approval from the county election administrator for a proposed ballot initiative prohibiting “any necessary authorization to construct or expand any data center within the city-county” without approval from voters.
According to court documents, the organization was previously told by the county that it had until Aug. 14 to collect the 3,652 signatures needed to get on the ballot, but on Aug. 10, the elections administrator said the submission deadline was July 13 based on a new part of Montana law that was changed in 2025.
406 People First argued in its court filing that in all communication with election administrator Cynthia Sherman, a July 13 date was never communicated, and in fact, Sherman had “unequivocally stated” Aug. 14 was the deadline.
On Aug. 12, Judge Frank Joseph issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the city-county from “destroying, returning, segregating, or refusing to count petition sheets; excluding signatures solely under the July 13 cutoff; treating Local Initiative 00-02 as finally rejected; or taking any action that would make certification or ballot placement impracticable.”
A hearing on a preliminary injunction for the suit will be held on Wednesday.
Butte-Silver Bow is the second county to retroactively change the signature-gathering deadline for a local initiative about data center regulation that was already in progress.
In Yellowstone County, the district court upheld a decision by the county to invalidate a similar initiative that would have required residents’ approval before data center construction.
The decision came when the Yellowstone County Election Administrator issued a memo explaining state statute had changed. The law, enacted through Senate Bill 11, which passed unanimously through the 2025 Legislature, added requirements that signatures be submitted four weeks before ballot certification — certification is Thursday — and pushed the certification date 10 days earlier than in years past.
“This statutory framework was reworked significantly in 2025 by the Montana Legislature and appears to have created a new timeline for certification and signature submission,” a memo from the county attorney’s office said.
Kassi Solberg, who was leading the initiative in Yellowstone County, had initially been told she had until Aug. 12 to gather more than 16,000 signatures, but under the new rule the county moved that date back to July, but after it the deadline had passed.
According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the county became aware of the updated statute after an attorney representing data center company Quantica Infrastructure reached out to the county.
In Butte, the lawsuit argues that Sherman had already processed and “officially accepted” more signatures than was required, and the county should honor the original deadline given that the initiative was all but approved prior to the date change.
The plaintiffs argue that if the court doesn’t intervene, the lost opportunity to “qualify and vote on an initiative is irreparable and cannot be adequately compensated.”
In granting a temporary restraining order, the judge requires the county to “certify the ballot, send it to the Secretary of State, and take any additional steps necessary to ensure the imitative is placed on the November ballot” while further legal action is pending.
406 Peoples First is being represented by Cottonwood Environmental Law Center.
