Reclaiming Constitutional Balance Through Citizen Action

On this Friday, June 23, 2023 broadcast, Kim Monson explores citizen-led efforts to restore constitutional principles. Lisa Bennett and her daughter Nicole share their groundbreaking Montana ballot initiative, while former State Senator Kevin Lundberg provides updates on the Colorado open primary lawsuit that could reshape how voters participate in party primaries.

Colorado’s Fight to Close the Primary

Start listening at 74:24 – Hour 2

Kevin Lundberg, former State Senator and chairman of the Lawsuit and Legal Affairs Committee for the Colorado GOP, reports on fundraising efforts for a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s open primary system. The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that political parties cannot be forced to accept non-party voters in their primaries without consent, yet Colorado’s system allows over one million unaffiliated voters to receive both Democratic and Republican primary ballots.

The lawsuit requires approximately $50,000, with about $10,000 already pledged or contributed. Funds can be sent to the Colorado GOP for the specific lawsuit purpose or to the Claremont Institute for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a 501c3 handling the legal work. Lundberg criticizes the 2013 House Bill 1303, which he dubbed the “Voter Fraud Act” for creating mechanisms ripe for electoral abuse.

The discussion expands to broader election integrity concerns: the cost of mailing duplicate ballots to unaffiliated voters, the impossibility of auditing election machines, and the recent State Executive Board reprimand of Republican legislators who signed a Democratic letter about Montana’s transgender lawmaker controversy. Lundberg emphasizes that restoring closed primaries represents a political investment in constitutional governance.

“We need to take this before the courts. The Supreme Court back in 2000 said you can’t force a political party to accept voters in their primaries without their permission, without the party saying yes.”

Kevin Lundberg, Former State Senator

A 12-Year-Old Takes On Montana’s Legal Establishment

Start listening at 32:35 – Hour 1

Lisa Bennett and her daughter Nicole Bennett describe their ambitious constitutional amendment initiative in Montana. Nicole, just 12 years old, began researching checks and balances through Teen Pact, a Christian organization teaching students about state legislatures. Her discovery that the Supreme Court controls lawyer licensing without legislative oversight sparked a mission to restore constitutional balance.

The initiative targets Section 7, Article 2 of the Montana State Constitution, which in 1972 transferred attorney licensing power from the legislature to the Supreme Court. This shift, Lisa explains, created a system where the judicial branch now controls its own officers through mandatory Bar Association membership, eliminating the checks and balances the Founders intended. Montana’s 1972 Constitution remains the most progressive state constitution in America, and its Supreme Court is the most overturned court even within the liberal 9th Circuit.

Nicole faces significant hurdles: gathering approximately 61,000 to 80,000 signatures across 40 house districts in under a year, with each signature requiring county-specific validation. Despite opposition from trial lawyers and the Bar Association, the young activist remains determined, noting that Supreme Court justices have no constitutional requirements, including no mandate to be lawyers. James F. Burns, she points out, never graduated high school yet taught himself law and became a Supreme Court justice.

“It’s really important to get involved and actually do things, write letters, speak your voice, speak your opinion, and get yourself known out there.”

Nicole Bennett, Citizen Activist