Montana court hears challenge to SB109; plaintiffs say PSC map dilutes non‑Republican votes

MONTANA COURTS — Plaintiffs challenging Senate Bill 109 told the court that the legislature’s rewrite of Public Service Commission districts systematically denies non‑Republican voters a realistic opportunity to elect candidates of choice.

"The Montana Constitution prohibits the State from discriminating against its citizens' exercise of their political and civil rights on the basis of political ideology," counsel Molly Danahy told the court, arguing plaintiffs can prove a right‑to‑suffrage violation through effects‑based evidence rather than proof of discriminatory intent.

Danahy presented expert analysis, saying that under neutral maps a substantial minority of Montana voters who typically support non‑Republican candidates can elect a PSC candidate when their statewide vote share reaches about 38 percent, but that SB109’s lines require a statewide non‑Republican vote share to exceed roughly 50 percent before a non‑Republican could be elected to the PSC. She described that disparity as "extreme, durable, and systematically discriminatory," and said it denies an electoral opportunity protected by the Montana Constitution.

The plaintiffs asked the court to adopt a limited, effects‑based test crafted for these facts: when a map imposes an extreme and durable dilutive effect that systematically prevents a substantial minority from the opportunity to elect candidates of choice, it violates the right to suffrage. Danahy said the test is narrow, designed to address maps that "ensure[] only one party will be elected" to a statewide body.

State counsel pushed back on two fronts. Michael Russell, representing Secretary Christy Jacobson, urged the court to avoid importing a federal‑style partisan gerrymandering doctrine without a manageable standard, citing Rucho v. Common Cause and arguing that judges risk entangling the court in inherently political disputes. He also defended the jury verdict and the district court’s factual findings and emphasized the legal presumptions and burdens applied at trial.

Russell further raised practical timing concerns: with PSC filing deadlines and upcoming elections, he said the court could not feasibly order new maps before ballots are finalized and suggested declaratory relief and legislative remediation as a more practical remedy.

Why it matters: If the court adopts plaintiffs’ effects‑based approach, it would create a state constitutional route for redistricting challenges based on political‑ideology discrimination — a departure from federal courts’ reluctance to adjudicate partisan gerrymandering. But the justices repeatedly queried how to define a manageable standard and warned about opening challenges to ordinary geographic effects of districting.

The argument was submitted to the court; justices reserved decision.

The case captioned DA25‑0187 remains pending before the Montana Courts; the court did not announce a decision from the bench.