The Montana Supreme Court refused to hear state Democrats' case to have the Green Party candidate removed from November's ballot for U.S. Senate, Daily Montana reported. The five-judge panel unanimously denied the request Tuesday.
The Montana Democratic Party had requested a writ of supervisory control on the basis that the Green Party improperly replaced its candidate. Michael Downey won the Green Party's nomination in June but withdrew from the race on the very last day allowed.
The Green Party then replaced him with Robert Barb. The Democratic Party panicked and sued, arguing that the Green Party failed to follow its own bylaws and state laws about replacing candidates.
The state Supreme Court also indicated it would uphold an earlier denial for an injunction, which the Democratic Party requested earlier. This comes just ahead of the Sept. 20 deadline to mail out military and overseas ballots.
The Democrats' lawsuit stemmed from issues with "nomination" versus "appointment" in the different rules and laws on replacing candidates. Ultimately, the court said that any obstacles to naming a replacement candidate "would be at odds with allowing ballots to be printed and distributed in a timely fashion" if they must wait for approval.
"Although such would not be an absurd result, it would not give effect to the purpose of the statute, which in part requires political parties to comply with their own bylaws in appointing replacement candidates in the event of the death or withdrawal of a nominee after the primary election," the decision from the court stated. The court also admonished Democrats for its "merely speculative" reasoning.
"MDP has thus failed to demonstrate that it is likely that the Montana Green Party violated its party ‘rules’ when its state central committee appointed Barb to fill the vacancy created by Downey’s withdrawal," the court noted. The court also found no evidence that the lower court erred in denying an injunction.
"Since we have not concluded that the District Court is proceeding under a mistake of law, this matter is not susceptible to writ of supervisory control," the court said. Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen believes the Montana Supreme Court made the right call.
"I’m pleased that the Supreme Court unanimously rejected this hail Mary attempt to undermine Montana election law," Jacobsen said in a statement. "From the start, this lawsuit was a baseless political game from Washington elites that showed complete disrespect for Montana and our election officials.”
Replacing parties' candidates has been a prominent issue in this election year. The highest-profile swap-out happened in the presidential race after an abysmal debate performance.
According to the Associated Press, President Joe Biden stepped down as the Democratic presidential nominee, and the party eventually replaced him with Vice President Kamala Harris. Despite never winning a single primary vote, she became the pick because Democrats were desperate.
Meanwhile, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has been fighting to have his name removed from November's ballot since he dropped out last month. As CBS News reported, he will remain on the ballot in over 30 of the 50 states, including some battleground states.
Kennedy endorsed former President Donald Trump after stepping aside, signaling to supporters to switch to backing Trump. However, state officials may be digging in to keep his name on with the belief that he will siphon votes from the Republican candidate.
This election cycle is contentious, and many races are close as it is. With the additional issues with the ballots, it could mean the difference between defeat and victory for some, and Democrats know it.
