A Butte-Silver Bow County district judge has ruled against the citizen group 406 People First in its lawsuit over signature gathering for a ballot initiative that would have let voters weigh in on data center development in the county. District Judge Frank Joseph filed his ruling August 28, closing off what had been the group's last legal avenue to get the measure before voters.
406 People First had challenged the handling of signatures collected in support of the initiative, which aimed to give Butte-Silver Bow residents a direct say over large-scale data center projects proposed for the area. The group argued the signatures should have been counted or treated differently; the court disagreed. Judge Joseph's order came down in favor of Butte-Silver Bow County.
The fight reflects a broader tension playing out across Montana as tech companies scout sites for power-hungry data center campuses, drawn in part by available land and proximity to electrical infrastructure. Butte has been among the communities weighing what that kind of industrial development means for local water supplies, power grids, and land use — questions residents in the 406 People First camp wanted to answer at the ballot box.
With the lawsuit dismissed, the path for a public vote on data centers in Butte-Silver Bow appears closed for this election cycle. Whether the group pursues another initiative effort or shifts strategy was not addressed in court documents.