Montana court creates House tie

HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday declared “one or more” contested ballots in a disputed House race in Lake County invalid, meaning Democrat Jeanne Windham won the seat.

The 6-1 decision creates a 50-50 tie in the House, which means the next House speaker likely will be from the party of Democratic Gov.-elect Brian Schweitzer.

Rick Jore, the Constitution Party candidate who ran against Windham, said he was surprised and disappointed by the ruling and wanted further justification from the court.

“I personally felt the ballots were valid as far as voter intent and that the Lake County elections office and recount board applied the secretary of state’s rules,” he said. “Obviously I disagree (with the ruling) and I’m disappointed but it’s not the end of the world.”

Windham said she believed from the beginning that the Supreme Court would rule the ballots invalid.

“Most importantly, it’s time to move on,” she said in a phone interview. “I have a lot of work ahead of me to represent the people of House District 12.”

In a two-page order issued Tuesday, the justices overturned District Judge Kim Christopher’s ruling earlier this month that seven contested ballots had properly been counted for Jore.

Throwing out even one of those ballots means the vote tally swings to Windham, the court said.

“Since the race for House District 12 was declared a tie, it is undisputed that if the District Court erred with regard to any one of the seven ballots, Jeanne Windham will have won election to the Montana House of Representatives,” the court said.

Justice Jim Rice was the only dissenter.

Mike Meloy, the Helena attorney who filed the lawsuit over the disputed ruling, hailed the court’s decision.

“This is a great ruling, not only for Jeanne but for the system,” he said. “The Supreme Court followed the precedent that has been set since almost the beginning of statehood.”

Meloy represents Anita Big Spring, a Ronan voter who challenged the votes counted for Jore. He also represented Windham in an initial challenge to the election results.

The race between Jore of Ronan and Windham of Polson was declared a tie after a recount earlier this month. That gave Republican Gov. Judy Martz authority to appoint the winner. She chose the conservative Jore, giving the Republicans a 50-49 lead over Democrats in the House, with Jore as a lone Constitution Party candidate.

The Democrats also took a 27-23 lead in the Senate in the Nov. 2 election.

Christopher’s ruling upheld the House District 12 tie and left Jore’s appointment in place.

In its order Tuesday, the Supreme Court did not say why it concluded that at least one of the ballots counted for Jore was invalid, but said it would issue a “full written and published opinion” later.

Meloy had argued that the ballots contained marks suggesting they could have been counted either for Jore or the Republican candidate.

The Supreme Court’s decision came just six days before the 2005 Legislature convenes.

House Republican floor leader Roy Brown, who was slated to be House Speaker had Jore been declared the winner and the GOP kept its 50-49 margin, said every committee of Lake County officials involved with the recount declared the race a tie and decided the disputed ballots were valid.

“To determine that just seven votes should be treated differently than hundreds of other votes all across the state that were treated exactly the same, it seems to me the judicial system is out of control,” he said.

Rep. Dave Wanzenried, currently the highest ranking Democrat in the House, was pleased with the court’s decision. He said Democrats planned to nominate House Speaker and Speaker Pro Tempore candidates in a caucus Sunday night and would work with Republicans to sort out legislative committee assignments.

“Our caucus is gratified that the elections process and sanctity and the importance of each vote being counted properly has been upheld,” he said. “That is the most important thing that comes out of this ruling.”

Wanzenried said he did plan to change the structure of one of the session’s key committees, although he wanted Republican input. Brown had named a Select Committee on Education two weeks ago, to study school funding issues as required under a District Court decision earlier this year declaring Montana’s school funding system unconstitutional.

Several Democratic leaders criticized the appointments, which included teachers and state education leaders, and questioned Brown for naming them before the disputed House race had been resolved.

Wanzenried said he wants to create a standing education committee comprised solely of lawmakers to deal with school funding and any related issues.