蒙大拿州法官推翻缺席选票须填出生年份法
据蒙大拿州公共广播电台（MTPR）报道，蒙大拿州一名法官 10 月 6 日推翻了 HB 719 法案——该法要求缺席选票选民在选票信封上填写出生年份。投票权倡导组织称这一要求导致大量有效选票因微小差错被作废，裁决是他们的胜利。
HB 719 由共和党主导的州议会通过，为邮寄选票增加出生年份作为额外验证环节。选举官员报告称，近年选举中有数千张选票因选民漏填或错填该栏而被拒收。
法官认定，该要求对防范舞弊没有实质作用，却给选民造成不成比例的负担，违反州宪法对投票权的保护。预计州政府将提起上诉。
投票权组织对裁决表示欢迎，称这将保护数千名蒙大拿选民——尤其是老年与乡村选民——的选票不被丢弃。该法支持者则称这是常识性的保障措施，誓言继续法律斗争。
（来源：蒙大拿州公共广播电台）
Montana Judge Strikes Down Law Requiring Birth Year on Absentee Ballots
A Montana judge on October 6 struck down HB 719, a state law requiring absentee ballot voters to write their year of birth on the ballot envelope, Montana Public Radio reported. The ruling is a victory for voting rights advocates who argued the requirement led to valid ballots being thrown out over trivial errors.
HB 719, passed by the Republican-led legislature, added the birth-year field as an extra verification step for mail ballots. Election officials reported that thousands of ballots were rejected in recent elections because voters left the field blank or wrote the information incorrectly.
The judge found the requirement served no meaningful anti-fraud purpose and disproportionately burdened voters, violating the state constitution's protections for the right to vote. The state is expected to appeal.
Voting rights groups celebrated the decision, saying it will protect thousands of Montanans — particularly elderly and rural voters — from having their ballots discarded. Supporters of the law said it was a common-sense safeguard and vowed to continue the legal fight.
(Source: Montana Public Radio)
图片来源：图：蒙大拿州议会大厦（海伦娜）黄昏实景。摄影：David Wilson，CC BY 2.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
