Supreme Court: Butte-Silver Bow data center initiative will miss November ballot

Faster, offline reading & native notifications. Montana's independent nonprofit news source. Your state. Know what's shaping Montana. From community meetings to federal policies, MTFP reporting answers critical questions across the state. The Montana Supreme Court on Thursday vacated its own injunction, which temporarily allowed a proposed data center initiative to appear on the November ballot in Butte-Silver Bow County , less than 48 hours after issuing it. In its five-page order, the court said it stands by its earlier reasoning: that allowing voters to consider the initiative, even if it were later invalidated, is preferable to denying them the opportunity to vote on a measure that might ultimately be found eligible for the ballot. General election voters in Butte-Silver Bow County may now consider a proposed ballot initiative that would require citizen approval of data center development, after the Montana Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that prevented the initiative from appearing on the November ballot. In a court filing responding to the decision, the county said it… Still, the justices said Thursday, they would not have granted initiative organizers’ request for an injunction had they known that the county’s ballots have already been printed and mailed, with some having already been returned by voters.

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