Issue One Celebrates Cross-Partisan Volunteer Effort in Montana to Advance Ballot Measure to Fight Corporate and Dark Money in Elections

In response to the news that more than 50,000 Montanans signed the ballot access petition to secure a spot on the November 2026 ballot for the Montana Plan ballot measure to combat corporate and dark money spending in elections (a.k.a., Initiative 194), Issue One released the following statement.

“This is a major milestone for Montana’s pioneering effort to end corporate and dark money spending in elections” said Issue One Director of Money in Politics Reform Michael Beckel. “In just 13 weeks, this all-volunteer signature gathering effort achieved a seismic victory to qualify this measure for the ballot. All across Montana, Democrats, Republicans, and independents are coming together to express their outrage with the current system that privileges deep-pocketed corporate and special interests and blaze a new path forward through a people-powered campaign. Where Montanans lead, others should follow.”

Polling commissioned by Issue One last year found that 74% of Montana voters — including broad majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents — would vote in favor of this proposed ballot measure to eliminate corporate and dark money spending in elections, compared to only 11% opposed. Now, Montanans will have a chance to do so.

Background:

The Montana Plan to combat corporate and dark money spending in elections is being advanced by the Transparent Election Initiative, a nonprofit founded by former Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan. More than 600 volunteers helped gather signatures to help the Montana Plan qualify for the ballot.

To qualify for the November 2026 ballot, the Transparent Election Initiative needed to submit 30,121 signatures from Montanans by Friday, June 19, and collect signatures equal to at least 5% of the vote cast for governor in the most recent election in at least 34 state House districts.

As of the deadline, the Transparent Election Initiative had submitted more than 50,000 signatures with expansive geographic diversity, estimating that it had surpassed the 5% threshold in at least 50 state House districts. In the coming weeks, county-level election administrators and the Montana Secretary of State’s office will be reviewing and qualifying these signatures.

For more about why the Montana Plan is a critical reform, don’t miss Beckel’s recent op-ed in the Billings Gazette.