Montana district court blocks law restricting voter registration hours, allows voter ID law
A Montana district court has ordered a temporary halt on a new law aimed at restricting Election Day voter registration and tightening the hours voters can register in the days leading up to it, while upholding a new voter identification law.
In a 22-page order on Friday, District Court Judge Adam Larsen granted a preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 490, a bill sponsored by Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka. With the ruling, the state’s existing rules stay in place, allowing voters to register to vote on Election Day as long as they are in line by the close of voting hours.
“Unions like ours are organized around the fundamental right of every voice to be heard and every vote to count in our workplaces and society,” said Amanda Curtis, president of the Montana Federation of Public Employees, which brought the lawsuit against the state and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen. “Montanans voted to protect same day voter registration a decade ago, and today MFPE members are proud to have defended this right from overreaching politicians.”
Cuffe’s bill had tightened the deadline for voters to register to vote to noon on the day of the election, and eliminated registration on the Monday before an election, but opened it up on the prior Saturday.
https://dailymontanan.com/2026/05/11/montana-district-court-blocks-law-restricting-voter-registration-hours-allows-voter-id-law/