This year, Montanans voted on two electoral reforms ballot measures CI-126 and CI-127. As of Wednesday morning, tallied votes had both measures down.

If CI-126 passes, all candidates will appear on the same primary ballot with their preferred political party or “no party preference”. Voters will choose one candidate for each position, and the top four finishers, regardless of party, will advance to the general election.

At 6:45 a.m., with about 60 percent of precincts fully reporting, the vote for CI-126 was 48 percent in favor and 52 percent against, with 513,595 votes cast.

CI-127 would change the rules for general elections. Instead of just the candidate with the most votes winning, a candidate would need to get a majority – at least 50% of the vote – to win. The Legislature will have to pass a law setting the rules for what happens if no candidate gets a majority; Garner said he sees runoff picks or a ranked-choice system as two realistic possibilities.

At 6:45 a.m., with about 60 percent of precincts fully reporting, the vote for CI-127 was 39 percent in favor and 61 percent against, with 505,412 votes cast.

Montana’s largest counties by population were still deep in vote counting Wednesday morning.