Civil Liberties

Lawsuit Challenges Montana's New Ban on Corporate, Union, and Nonprofit Spending on Elections

The Institute for Free Speech argues that the measure circumvents the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and violates organizations' First Amendment rights.

Tosin Akintola | 11.5.2026 4:40 PM

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(Illustration: Shao-chun Wang/Dreasmtime/Fatima Ruiz.)

An organized effort to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) is gaining traction nationwide. It's also drawn a legal challenge in Montana.

On Tuesday, Montana voters passed I-194. This citizen-initiated ballot measure amends the state statute to prohibit "artificial persons" from spending "money or anything of value to support or oppose the outcome of a vote of the electorate." Artificial persons can be nonprofits, trusts, partnerships, corporations, trade associations, unions, and unincorporated associations. The prohibition extends to any entity doing business in Montana. 

The initiative's text copies much of a similar law Hawaii passed in August, which stripped corporations operating in the state of their "power to spend money or contribute anything of value to influence elections or ballot measures." Under Montana's I-194, the "absence of political spending power" is now a condition........

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