Montana

Abortion measure has signatures to qualify for Montana ballot, supporters say

Published

1 year ago

July 20, 2024

Abortion measure has signatures to qualify for Montana ballot, supporters say

An initiative to ask voters if they want to protect the right to a pre-viability abortion in Montana’s constitution has enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, supporters said Friday.

County election officials have verified 74,186 voter signatures, more than the 60,359 needed for the constitutional initiative to go before voters. It has also met the threshold of 10% of voters in 51 House Districts — more than the required 40 districts, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights said.

What You Need To Know

An initiative to ask voters if they want to protect the right to a pre-viability abortion in Montana’s constitution has enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, abortion rights supporters say

Montanans Supporting Reproductive Rights reported Friday that counties have confirmed over 74,000 signatures; the petition needed over 60,000 to qualify for the ballot

Still pending is whether the signatures of inactive voters should count toward the total; a Helena judge ruled this week that they should

The Secretary of State’s Office is asking the Montana Supreme Court to block that order

“We’re excited to have met the valid signature threshold and the House District threshold required to qualify this critical initiative for the ballot,” Kiersten Iwai, executive director of Forward Montana and spokesperson for Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights said in a statement.

Still pending is whether the signatures of inactive voters should count toward the total.

Montana’s secretary of state said they shouldn’t, but it didn’t make that statement until after the signatures were gathered and after some counties had begun verifying them.

A Helena judge ruled Tuesday that the qualifications shouldn’t have been changed midstream and said the signatures of inactive voters that had been rejected should be verified and counted. District Judge Mike Menahan said those signatures could be accepted through next Wednesday.

The state has asked the Montana Supreme Court to overturn Menahan’s order, but it will have no effect on the initiative qualifying for the ballot.

“We will not stop fighting to ensure that every Montana voter who signed the petition has their signature counted,” Iwai said. “The Secretary of State and Attorney General have shown no shame in pulling new rules out of thin air, all to thwart the will of Montana voters and serve their own political agendas.”

Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen must review and tabulate the petitions and is allowed to reject any petition that does not meet statutory requirements. Jacobsen must certify the general election ballots by Aug. 22.

The issue of whether abortion was legal was turned back to the states when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Montana’s Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that the state constitutional right to privacy protects the right to a pre-viability abortion. But the Republican controlled Legislature passed several bills in 2023 to restrict abortion access, including one that says the constitutional right to privacy does not protect abortion rights. Courts have blocked several of the laws, but no legal challenges have been filed against the one that tries to overturn the 1999 Supreme Court ruling.

Montanans for Election Reform, which also challenged the rule change over petition signatures, has said they believe they have enough signatures to ask voters if they want to amend the state constitution to hold open primary elections, rather than partisan ones, and to require candidates to win a majority of the vote in order to win a general election.

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Montana

Montana-Montana State’s FCS semifinal get-in ticket prices surpass College Football Playoff games

Published

2 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Montana-Montana State’s FCS semifinal get-in ticket prices surpass College Football Playoff games

Montana-Montana State, known as the Brawl of the Wild, is one of the best rivalries in FCS. This year, more than bragging rights are on the line, as the matchup will take place in the FCS semifinals.

The high stakes and relatively smaller seating capacity have made this game the most expensive entry-level ticket in college football this weekend, including the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The cheapest ticket for the game at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana, is $675 on Gametime Tickets compared to about $350 for the Miami at Texas A&M game, which is the most expensive of the four first-round College Football Playoff matchups. The most expensive ticket for the FCS semifinal is a sideline seat priced at $1,152. The Miami-Texas A&M game has Founder Club tickets listed at $2,484.

The seating capacity for Bobcat Stadium is 20,767, compared to more than 102,000 at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. The other three CFP games this weekend will be hosted by Oklahoma (capacity 80,126), Ole Miss (64,038) and Oregon (60,000).

Next year’s Montana-Montana State matchup starts at $876, with some tickets listed as high as $1,359.

Montana State is the No. 2 seed in the playoffs at 12-2 after defeating Stephen F. Austin 44-28 in the quarterfinals this past weekend. Third-seeded Montana is 13-1 and beat South Dakota 52-22 in its quarterfinal. Montana leads the all-time rivalry 74-44-5.

Montana State has won the last two matchups between the teams, most recently winning 31-28 at Montana on Nov. 22. At least one of the teams has appeared in the FCS championship game in three of the past four years. Montana’s last national championship came in 2001, while Montana State’s came in 1984.

Montana is led by head coach Bobby Hauck, who is the second-winningest active FCS head coach and one of the top 10 winningest active coaches overall in Division I football at 151-42. Montana’s key players are quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat, running back Eli Gillman and wide receiver Michael Wortham.

Montana State is led by head coach Brent Vigen. Key players for Montana State include quarterback Justin Lamson, running back Julius Davis and wide receiver Taco Dowler.

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Montana

Montana-vs.-Montana State semifinal sequel set for 2 p.m. Saturday on ABC

Published

14 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Montana-vs.-Montana State semifinal sequel set for 2 p.m. Saturday on ABC

The first playoff meeting between football rivals Montana and Montana State is set for 2 p.m. Mountain time next Saturday at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. The game will air nationally on ABC.

The Bobcats and Grizzlies will square off in the semifinal round of the FCS postseason after each team won convincingly in the quarterfinal round. No. 2-seeded Montana State defeated No. 7 Stephen F. Austin 44-28 at home Friday night and No. 3-seeded Montana raced past No. 11 South Dakota 52-22 on Saturday in Missoula.

Next week’s game between the Cats and Griz will be the 125th all-time meeting, and it will be for a berth in the national championship game Jan. 5 at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

It will also be the first time the schools have faced each other twice in football in the same season since 1913.

The Bobcats are seeking their fourth all-time trip to the FCS/Division I-AA title game and their third visit in the past five years. MSU claims three national championships — 1956 (NAIA), 1976 (NCAA Division II) and 1984 (I-AA). The Bobcats lost to North Dakota State in the championship game in Frisco, Texas, in both 2021 and last season.

The Grizzlies are looking to make their ninth trip to the championship game and their second in the past three seasons. Montana has won two previous titles — in 1995 and 2001. The Griz suffered title-game losses in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2023.

Montana State beat Montana 31-28 in Missoula on Nov. 22 in the regular-season finale to earn the outright Big Sky Conference title and the No. 2 seed for the playoffs. The Grizzlies lead the all-time series 74-44-5 but MSU owns a 12-10 edge since 2002.

Saturday’s other semifinal game pits unseeded Illinois State against No. 12 seed Villanova. Illinois State went on the road and upset No. 8 seed UC Davis 42-31 in the quarterfinals on Saturday while Villanova held on to beat No. 4 seed Tarleton State 26-21.

Illinois State and Villanova will kick off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Mountain time on ESPN2.

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Montana

Oregon women earn 11th victory with win over Montana State

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Oregon women earn 11th victory with win over Montana State

Oregon women’s basketball moved to 11-1 following a 69-44 win over Montana State Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena.

Four of Oregon’s starters scored in double figures, led by guard Sofia Bell’s 15 points.

Mia Jacobs added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Katie Fiso and Ari Long each scored 10 points. Fiso added five assists.

Oregon (11-1) struggled shooting, hitting 19 of 58 field goal attempts (32.8%), including 9 of 31 from three-point range (29%). However, those numbers were mainly dragged down in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand.

Oregon, which led 37-14 at halftime, shot just 22.2% from the field in the final quarter and missed all seven of its three-point attempts. MSU won the quarter 16-11.

Bell went 4 of 8 from long distance, Jacobs went 3 of 8 and Long made both of her three-point attempts. The rest of the team went 0-for-13.

Montana State (6-3) received 14 points and four rebounds from Jamison Philip. The Bobcats shot 1 of 19 from three-point range and committed 23 turnovers that the Ducks converted into 25 points.

Next up: The Ducks host Portland (7-4) at 11 a.m. on Thursday. The Pilots defeated Kent State 88-78 on Sunday.

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