Montanans Decide, the committee sponsoring Constitutional Initiative 133 (CI-133), submitted over 100,000 signatures to county officials on June 18. CI-133 proposes to add the initiative and referendum power to Article II, the Declaration of Rights, of the state's constitution.

CI-133 outlines that individuals have a right to propose and qualify ballot initiatives, and to submit them to voters, without government interference or the use of government resources to support or oppose the measure. This includes specific provisions for filing the full text and ballot summary, receiving a determination of legal sufficiency before signature gathering, and verifying signatures and petitions without invalidating them due to technical or minor deficiencies. It also covers resolving legal challenges to ballot issues before the deadline for finalizing ballots.

The initiative also provides a right for individuals to withdraw their signatures from a petition, provided the withdrawal occurs before the deadline for submitting petitions. Other states, including California, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington, also permit signature withdrawals from ballot initiative petitions. Montana initially authorized the initiative and referendum power in 1906 through a constitutional amendment, becoming the fifth state to adopt such a process. Articles III, IV, and XIV of the Montana Constitution currently govern the state's initiative process.

SK Rossi, the campaign manager for Montanans Decide, stated that the ballot initiative process is intended for all individuals and is utilized across the political spectrum. Rossi said that attempts to place a property tax initiative on the ballot this year were unsuccessful due to the process becoming cumbersome and the shortened timeline for collecting signatures.

In Montana, to qualify an initiated state statute, petitioners must gather signatures equivalent to 10% of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election, which amounts to 60,241 signatures. Additionally, a distribution requirement mandates that proponents secure signatures equal to 10% of the qualified electors in two-fifths of the state's 100 legislative districts. The deadline for submitting signatures to county clerks was June 19, and the deadline for submission to the secretary of state is July 17.