10. The right to vote is foundational. 'No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must [ive. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory ifthe right to vote is undermined." Larson v. State,2019 MT 28, fl 81, 394 Mont. 167, 434 P.3d 241 (McKinnon dissent) (citations omitted). 11. "[T]he rights and guarantees afforded by the United States Constitution are minimal, and that states may interpret provisions of their own constitutions to afford greater protection than the United States Constitution." State v. Guillaume,l999 MT 29, tT 15, 293 Mont. 224,975 P.2d312. 12. The State's authority to regulate elections must be exercised "within constitutional limits." Zarson, 13. 'll 2 I . The legislature's authority to regulate voting is designed to ensure free and fair elections, not limit them. 14. The State contends that the Court should apply the balancing test espoused in." Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428, 433 (1992) (holding prohibition on write-in voting, taken as part of comprehensive election scheme, did not impermissibly burden right to vote) (citation and intemal quotation marks omitted). 15. In Burdick, the U.S. Supreme Court applied a balancing test whereby, in "considering a challenge to a state election law," courts "must weigh the character and magnitude of the asserted injury to" a plaintifls constitutional rights "against the precise interests put forward by the State as justifications for the burden imposed by its rule, taking into consideration the extent to which those interests make it necessary to burden plaintiff s t',ghts." Id. at 434 (citations and intemal quotation marks omitted). 46 the