BILLINGS— Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan ruled Friday that the requirement to write birthdates on absentee ballot envelopes is unconstitutional.
The requirement, introduced under House Bill 719, was enforced in October 2025 after state Rep. Braxton Mitchell sponsored it.
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Menahan said the requirement has cost 6,000 Montanans their vote since it was enforced last year.
“We saw that here in Yellowstone County,” said Yellowstone County election administrator Dayna Causby. “It did result in increased numbers... of rejected ballots.”
MTN reported last November that there were 1,400 ballots initially rejected during the 2025 general election.
Related: More than 700 votes rejected in Yellowstone County due to a lack of birth year
“Almost 90% of them were due to the birth year,” Causby told MTN.
She said her office rejected approximately 700 ballots during the primary elections in June, due to the birthdate missing or the signature not matching.
She hopes the new ruling will help reduce those numbers.
“That work product will be less rejected ballots across the state due to that requirement not being enforced,” said Causby.
The ruling has also stirred concerns.
Causby and other county election officials received an email from the Montana Secretary of State’s office Monday, criticizing the ruling.
The email says, “As you know, judicial changes of this nature can continue to evolve, and we do not know whether this ruling will be revisited. This uncertainty is especially challenging because some voters had already cast their ballots before the ruling was issued. We are deeply concerned about the confusion this may create and the possibility that rejection rates could be historically high as a result.”
