周三上午，路易斯和克拉克县地方法院法官迈克尔·麦克马洪发布了一项临时禁令，暂停执行蒙大拿州共和党（MTGOP）旨在清除异己的新版党章规定 [1]。原告方指控该新版规章允许成员仅通过支付会费和签署效忠宣誓来维持资格，并赋予高层官员随意罢免选举产生的基层委员会成员的权力，这违反了该州 2019 年保护公职人员免受任意罢免的法律 [1]。
法官麦克马洪在裁决中指出：“原告方已证明其在挑战条款与蒙大拿选举法及关于参选、提名、言论、结社、正当程序以及当选区委员会代表等宪法保护方面的主张上具有胜诉的可能性。”[1] 具体而言，受争议的新党章要求成员支付每年 20 美元的会费并签署效忠宣誓，否则将面临被罢免的风险；此外，该规章还允许任何 20 名官方共和党成员提出罢免指控 [1]。
案件将于 7 月 13 日进行听证 [1]。原告方包括蒙大拿州共和党主席阿特·维蒂希（Art Wittich）以及杰夫·埃斯曼（Jeff Essmann），后者作为诉讼发起人对上述条款提出了挑战 [1]。
A district court judge in Lewis and Clark County has issued an injunction suspending the implementation of new bylaws proposed by the Montana Republican Party (MTGOP). [1] The ruling temporarily halts provisions designed to purge dissenters from the party. [1] Judge Michael F. McMahon determined that plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claims regarding these challenged rules. [1]
The disputed bylaws require members to pay an annual fee of $20 and sign a loyalty oath, under which failure to comply could result in removal. [1] Additionally, the new rules allow any 20 official Republican party members to file charges for removing elected precinct committee representatives. [1] Plaintiff Jeff Essmann argued that these measures violate Montana election law passed in 2019, which protects public officials from arbitrary dismissal. [1] The bylaws also grant high-ranking officials broad power to dismiss elected基层委员会 members at their discretion. [1]
In his ruling, Judge McMahon stated: "Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims that the challenged provisions are inconsistent with Montana election law and constitutional protections governing candidacy, nomination, speech, association, due process, and elected precinct committee representatives." [1] A hearing regarding the case is scheduled for July 13. [1]