Montana I-188, Vehicular Manslaughter Initiative (2020)
| Montana I-188, Vehicular Manslaughter Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Law enforcement and Transportation | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
Montana I-188, the Vehicular Manslaughter Initiative, was not on the ballot in Montana as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.
Measure design
The measure would have created a criminal offense in state law for vehicular manslaughter carrying a fine of up to $50,000, up to 20 years incarceration, driver's license suspension, and more.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot language
The ballot language for I-188 would have been as follows:
| “ |
I-188 creates the criminal offense of vehicular manslaughter. A person commits the crime of vehicular manslaughter if the person kills a human being or unborn child while operating a vehicle recklessly, carelessly, with depraved indifference, or with gross negligence. A person convicted of vehicular manslaughter could be punished with up to a $50,000 fine, incarceration for up to 20 years, or both. The driver’s license of the convicted person would be suspended for one year either after release from incarceration or upon the person’s sentencing if incarceration is not imposed. I-188 allows a court to order the convicted person to pay child support for each minor child of the deceased person. [] YES ON INITIATIVE I-188 [] NO ON INITIATIVE I-188[2] |
” |
Full text
The full text of I-188 is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Montana, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 5 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Moreover, signature collection must be distributed such that petitions include signatures equal to 5 percent of the votes cast for governor in each of one-third (34) of the state's legislative districts in the last gubernatorial election. Petitioners have a maximum of one year to collect signatures and get them verified by county elections officials.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 25,468 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures to county clerks was June 19, 2020. The deadline to submit signatures to the secretary of state was July 17, 2020.
County election officials check each signature to make sure the name corresponds to the name of a registered voter. Then they use a 5 percent random sampling method to check the authenticity of the signatures. Signature petitions are then sent to the secretary of state, which certifies the measure for the ballot if enough valid signatures were submitted.
Details about this initiative
- Initiative 188 was submitted by Morgan E. Hunt. It was approved for signature gathering on October 15, 2019.[3]
- On May 7, the Montana Secretary of State issued a declaratory order enabling campaigns to circulate petitions online so that supporters may print, sign, and return it to a county elections office without notarization. Prior to the order, supports had to take the signed petition to a notary for verification.[4]
- The sponsors of the initiative did not submit the required number of signatures by the deadline.[3]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "I-188 full text," accessed July 31, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Montana Secretary of State, "Proposed 2020 ballot issues," accessed July 31, 2019
- ↑ Montana Free Press, "Declaratory Ruling," March 7, 2020
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State of Montana Helena (capital) |
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