Montana holds its presidential primary on June 7. The only names on the Democratic ballot will be Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. They were put on the ballot automatically because they are discussed in the news media. The only candidate who submitted a petition, Rocky De La Fuente, submitted 856 signatures to meet a requirement of 500. Any registered voter is eligible to sign; Montana doesn’t have registration by primary. But election officials said only 362 signatures are valid.
The Montana Republican presidential primary ballot will list Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump.
Another Democrat, Florida attorney Michael Steinberg, petitioned for the Montana Democratic Party primary, but he only got 480 raw signatures so he didn’t bother to submit them.
If certain candidates were placed on the ballot by the MT SOS, then why did Ron Paul have to collect 500 signatures in 2012?
I think everyone had to petition in 2012 and that the law was changed between 2012 and 2016 to exempt some candidates.
Steinberg’s name was listed on the MT SOS as having submitted the paperwork.
I talked to Mr. Steinberg on the phone. Although he had submitted a declaration of candidacy, he didn’t bother to submit the petition signatures since there were fewer than 500. There is a woman in Wisconsin who also submitted a declaration of candidacy, Michele Gess. I talked to her also. She didn’t collect any signatures. There is a difference between submitting a declaration and submitting signatures.