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Montana achieved statehood in 1889.
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Montana voters decided on 266 statewide ballot measures between 1889 and 2025.
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Voters approved 165 of the 266 ballot measures between 1889 and 2025.
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Voters defeated 101 of the 266 ballot measures between 1889 and 2025.
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The Montana State Legislature referred 163 ballot measures to the state ballot between 1889 and 2025.
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Ninety-nine citizen initiatives appeared on the statewide ballot between 1889 and 2025.
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Two automatic constitutional convention questions appeared on the ballot between 1889 and 2025.
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A state constitutional convention referred two measures to the ballot between 1889 and 2025.
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Voters authorized the initiative and referendum process by approving a constitutional amendment in 1906.
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Montana was the fifth U.S. state to adopt a ballot initiative process.
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Referred legislative measures were approved 66 percent of the time between 1889 and 2025.
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Citizen-initiated measures were approved 56 percent of the time between 1889 and 2025.
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The average number of ballot measures per decade in Montana ranged from 17 to 18 between 1889 and 2025.
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The 1990s featured 35 ballot measures, the highest total for any decade.
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Voters approved 16 measures and defeated 19 measures during the 1990s.
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Eight ballot measures appeared during the 1900s.
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Voters approved seven of the eight measures appearing in the 1900s.
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The 1990s had the lowest voter approval rate for ballot measures among decades with more than one measure.
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Montana ballot measures have addressed 118 distinct topics.
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Voters ratified a state constitution in 1889 shortly before statehood.
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The 1889 constitution passed with 92 percent approval.
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Montana voters ratified their current state constitution in 1972.
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The 1972 constitution passed by a margin of approximately one percentage point.
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Voters approved Referendum 67 in 1970, authorizing a constitutional convention to draft the 1972 constitution.
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Montana is one of 14 U.S. states that automatically places a constitutional convention question on the ballot every 20 years.
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Voters rejected automatic constitutional convention questions in 1990 and 2010.
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Voters selected the state capital through two elections.
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An 1892 ballot question listed seven candidate cities for the state capital: Anaconda, Boulder, Bozeman, Butte, Deer Lodge, Great Falls, and Helena.
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The 1892 capital selection cities qualified for the ballot through signature collection by residents.
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Helena received 31 percent of the vote and Anaconda received 22 percent in the 1892 capital election.
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No candidate city achieved a majority vote in the 1892 capital election.
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Voters selected Helena as the state capital in an 1894 runoff election against Anaconda.
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Voters approved an eight-hour workday limit for mills, smelters, and mines in 1904.
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The 1904 eight-hour workday measure passed with a 77 percentage point margin.
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Voters approved a 1904 measure prohibiting the employment of children under 16 in underground mines.
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The 1904 child labor prohibition passed with an 85 percentage point margin.
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Voters approved a 1936 constitutional amendment extending the eight-hour workday to all industries.
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Voters approved a constitutional trust fund for a portion of the coal severance tax in 1976.
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Voters approved a 1982 measure directing one quarter of future trust fund deposits toward in-state investments.
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Voters approved Initiative 137 in 1998, requiring public notice and additional environmental disclosures for mining permits.
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Voters defeated a 1999 measure that would have restricted new metal-mine and cyanide-leach permits.
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Voters defeated a 2004 measure to allow cyanide-leach processing at open-pit gold and silver mines.
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Voters defeated a 2018 measure adding water-quality requirements for new hard-rock mines.
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Voters approved a 1934 constitutional amendment establishing graduated and progressive income taxes to replace property taxes.
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Revenue from the 1934 income tax was allocated to public schools and the state government.
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Montana does not have a general statewide sales tax.
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Voters rejected a 2 percent sales and use tax in 1971.
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Voters rejected a 4 percent sales tax in 1993.
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Voters approved a 1994 constitutional amendment limiting any future statewide sales or use tax to 4 percent.
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Voters approved a 1996 measure prohibiting corporate contributions to ballot-measure campaigns.
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The Montana State Legislature passed House Bill 575 in 1997, expanding the contribution ban to corporations, partnerships, associations, and tax-exempt organizations.
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House Bill 575 permits contributions only through separate political funds funded by voluntary donations.
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Voters upheld House Bill 575 through a 1998 veto referendum.
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A court later struck down the restrictions imposed by House Bill 575.
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Voters approved a 2012 initiative banning corporate contributions and expenditures in elections.
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A court overturned the 2012 corporate contribution ban in 2013.
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Voters approved Initiative 64 in 1992, establishing term limits for statewide executives, legislators, and members of Congress.
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Voters rejected a 2004 legislatively referred constitutional amendment to increase state legislative term limits from eight years in a 16-year period to 12 years in a 24-year period.
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Voters rejected Initiative 126 in 2024, which proposed implementing top-four primaries.
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Voters rejected Initiative 127 in 2024, which proposed requiring a majority rather than a plurality to win certain state and federal offices.
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Initiative 126 was defeated with 51 percent of voters opposed.
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Initiative 127 was defeated with 60 percent of voters opposed.
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Voters approved Initiative 96 in 2004 to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
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Montana was among 31 states that approved constitutional amendments defining marriage as between one man and one woman in 2004.
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The 2004 marriage definition amendment was invalidated by a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
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Montana voters have decided on three abortion-related ballot measures.
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Voters approved a 2012 measure requiring parental notification for minors seeking abortions.
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The 2012 parental notification measure passed with 71 percent approval.
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Voters rejected Legislative Referendum 131 in 2022, which would have granted legal personhood to infants born alive and required medical care for them.
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Legislative Referendum 131 failed with 47 percent in favor and 53 percent opposed.
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Voters approved Initiative 128 in 2024 to establish a state constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability.
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Initiative 128 passed with 58 percent in favor and 42 percent opposed.
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