MontPIRG’s History of Empowering Young Voters

A black and white photo of two people working at a desk

For more than 35 years, MontPIRG has been registering voters, giving them the tools to have their voices heard, and taking down barriers between young people and their constitutional right to vote.

Learn about our history of advancing voter rights:

🗳️ 1981 - 1986

  • MontPIRG supported campaign finance laws, specifically the PAC Limit Law

  • MontPIRG ensured access to same day voter registration

🗳️ 1987 - 1991

A scan of a MontPIRG newsletter from the fall of 1984. It shows a picture of the Capitol building with the text "Legilsature 1985 MontPIRG sets priorities" overlayed. It's titled "MontPIRG Agenda for Citizen Involvement"

  • MontPIRG continued its fight for campaign finance reform and removed significant barriers to voter registration

  • MontPIRG supported the passage of the Motor Voter Law in the 1991 legislative session, which expanded Montanans access to voter registration by giving every Montana driver an opportunity to register or re-register to vote when they apply for or renew their driver's license

  • MontPIRG led a major voter registration campaign on campus

🗳️ 1992 - 2001

  • One of MontPIRG's proudest accomplishments, MontPIRG passed I-118, the first law in the nation to limit PAC contributions to state legislative campaigns in Montana

  • MontPIRG continued its robust, on campus voter registration campaign

  • MontPIRG continued to eliminate corporate influence in campaign by embarking on a state-wide road trip to qualify petitions against corporate spending in elections

A black and white photo of people set up in groups of tables

🗳️ 2002-2006

  • MontPIRG continued their efforts to expand voter registration on campus and around the state.Voter Registration

🗳️ 2007-2014

  • Only two days before the November elections, MontPIRG registered hundreds of voters on the University of Montana campus and made over 5,000 voter contacts

  • During the 2008 election, MontPIRG made over 12,000 voter contacts

  • MontPIRG successfully blocked an attempt to require a Montana issued ID to participate in Montana elections

  • MontPIRG encouraged Governor Schweitzer to veto legislation that would have repealed same day voter registration

  • During the 2014 election, MontPIRG defended same day voter registration by knocking over 8,000 doors, collected over 7,000 pledges to vote 'no' on the referenda, and making over 23,000 phone calls

A picture of a MontPIRG flyer from 1984. It reads "Vote Tuesday November 6th Take a friend and encourage others to get involved in the 1984 elections"

🗳️ 2015-2020

  • During the 2015 legislative session, MontPIRG promoted to passage of the Montana DISCLOSE Act, a comprehensive campaign finance reform law

  • In 2016, MontPIRG's knocked over 23,000 doors, registered over 3,500 voters, distributed 3,000 voter guides, and made over 10,000 calls to voters for its Youth 12K campaign. The tireless efforts of the MontPIRG team during this campaign resulted in voter turnout amongst the young voters in Missoula county to increase by 7.4%, making young voters 19.2% of all votes cast in Missoula County. Because of MontPIRG, 1 in every 5 voters in Missoula county was a young voter.