BUTTE, Mont. — A citizen-led effort to give Butte-Silver Bow voters a direct say over future data center developments has turned into a legal battle after county officials rejected thousands of petition signatures over a disputed deadline.

The group 406 People First has been working to place a data center initiative before voters in the November election. Under the proposed measure, Butte-Silver Bow would not be able to approve the construction or expansion of a data center without a special election and approval from two-thirds of registered voters.

Organizers submitted more than 4,500 signatures on July 31 after previously being told by the county's election administrator that they had until August 14 to complete the petition process.

The number required to qualify the initiative was 3,652 signatures.

But roughly 10 days after the signatures were submitted, organizers learned that the county would not accept the petition.

A Disputed Deadline

At the center of the controversy is a change in Montana law affecting the deadline for submitting local ballot initiative petitions.

According to court filings and local reporting, Butte-Silver Bow Election Administrator Cindy Sherman initially approved the petition process in May and informed organizers that their signature-gathering period would end at 5 p.m. on August 14.

County officials later determined that the applicable deadline was actually July 13.

That determination meant the signatures submitted July 31 were considered too late, despite organizers having worked under the deadline originally provided by the county.

406 People First subsequently filed a lawsuit against Butte-Silver Bow seeking to keep the initiative alive.

Judge Allows Process to Continue — For Now

The dispute quickly moved into District Court.

A preliminary injunction has allowed election officials to continue processing the petition while District Court Judge Frank Joseph considers the case.

During an August 19 hearing, attorneys for 406 People First argued that residents relied on the deadline provided to them by county election officials and should not lose their opportunity to place the measure before voters because the county later determined that deadline was incorrect.

The judge did not immediately issue a final decision and requested additional information before ruling.

The case has similarities to a data center ballot initiative dispute in Yellowstone County, where organizers also encountered problems after officials determined that a statutory deadline occurred earlier than initially believed.

Why Some Butte Residents Want a Vote

The ballot fight follows months of debate in Butte over large-scale data center development.

Earlier this year, Washington-based Sabey Data Centers had been considering purchasing hundreds of acres at the Montana Connections industrial park south of Butte for a potentially major development.

That particular land agreement was disrupted after REC Silicon exercised a right of first refusal and purchased the property.

However, the broader question of future data center development in Butte-Silver Bow remains.

Supporters of the citizen initiative have raised concerns about the enormous electricity demands associated with large data centers, potential impacts on utility rates, water consumption and the long-term effects of such developments on the community.

Supporters say those potential impacts are significant enough that residents should have the final say before a large data center is approved.

County Officials Have Raised Concerns

Not everyone agrees with the proposed ballot measure.

Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher has previously warned that the initiative's definition of a data center may be too broad and could unintentionally interfere with other types of economic development.

Gallagher has argued that businesses outside the traditional data center industry could potentially fall under language dealing with facilities that store and transmit electronic information.

Supporters of the initiative dispute that interpretation and maintain that the measure is intended to ensure voters have a voice when large data center projects are proposed.

The disagreement highlights a larger debate taking place in communities across Montana and the country as demand for computing infrastructure continues to grow.

More Than a Data Center Debate

The court fight has now created a second issue separate from the merits of data centers themselves.

Even residents who disagree about whether data centers would benefit Butte are now watching a legal question involving the citizen initiative process: What happens when petition organizers follow a deadline given to them by election officials, only to later learn that the deadline was incorrect?

For 406 People First, the immediate objective is getting the initiative before voters.

For Butte-Silver Bow, the issue includes complying with Montana election law and determining whether the newer statutory deadline controls the process.

A final ruling from District Court could determine whether Butte-Silver Bow voters get the opportunity to decide the issue themselves in November.

For now, the petition remains alive while the court considers what happens next.