People in places such as at the Billings Public Library, have asking for signatures to determine the future of data centers and putting that up to a vote of the people.
After weeks of collecting about 10,000 signatures, the group Yellowstone County Voices found out those signatures may not count.
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That group continues to work to get the signatures, even after hearing it missed the deadline for signature submission.
“We definitely feel like there's options to challenge it,” said Karen Jarussi, who was collecting signatures at the library. “And we intend to not be distracted right now. We're going to keep collecting signatures, and we'll deal with it later. ”
The county elections administrator told the group that signatures were due Aug. 12, but on Tuesday, the grassroots group learned the date is actually July 13.
“Specifically and unfortunately it looks like close examination of statutes makes us realize that it has to be 113 days from the general election which is Nov. 3,” said Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito.
Twito explained at the county commission meeting on Tuesday that a different statute, MCA 13-28-206, reworked by the Montana Legislature in 2025, changed the date.
“These public officials are completely incompetent,” said Kassi Solberg of Broadview, who is head of Yellowstone County Voices. “They need to be held accountable for their absolute negligence.”
Solberg is leading the petition signature drive to give voters a say in data centers in the county and says the commissioners have been against her group from the beginning.
“It is clear that they are trying to push this AI data center proposed by Quantica through,” Solberg said. “Without the consensus of the people.”
Quantica is the company seeking to build a massive, 5,000-acre data center south of Broadview.
County commissioners say they are not trying to put up barriers.
“We as commissioners are really just trying to follow the law, and we are neutral in a sense in terms of data centers,” said Commissioner Mike Waters, a Republican.
The county elections office used the Secretary of State election calendar to determine the Aug. 12 date.
MTN contacted the Secretary of State's office, which says this is a local issue.
“The people need a voice,” said Dan Boyle, who was collecting signatures near the U.S. Post Office on Wyoming Avenue and 15th Street West. “We want to get it on the ballot because this is snowballing and I haven't seen anybody who wants this thing.”
“To all the warriors out there that have been gathering signatures, keep going, keep fighting,” Solberg said.
