The Cascade County Attorney's Office and Cascade County Sheriff's Office have opened an investigation into roughly 800 potentially fraudulent signatures gathered on behalf of two independent candidates — Michael Eisenhauer, running for U.S. House in Montana's Eastern Congressional District, and Seth Bodnar, running for the state's open U.S. Senate seat. At least one signature gatherer worked on both campaigns, and investigators are now working to determine the scope of the alleged misconduct.
The investigation puts both independent candidacies in legal jeopardy at a critical moment in the election cycle. Qualifying for the ballot as an independent in Montana requires a substantial number of verified voter signatures, and if a significant portion of those submitted for either candidate are thrown out, it could disqualify them from appearing on the general election ballot entirely.
Eisenhauer's campaign has responded with a lawsuit, according to reporting on the case, though the specific legal claims and named defendants were not fully detailed in available source material. The lawsuit signals the campaign intends to fight any attempt to remove him from the ballot based on the investigation's findings.
For Helena-area voters watching the Senate race closely, Bodnar — a former University of Montana president — has been one of the more prominent independent figures in the cycle. Whether his campaign can survive scrutiny of its signature count remains an open question as investigators continue their work in Great Falls.