23. Article II, Section 7 of Montana's Constitution protects Plaintiffs' freedom of speech. Mont. Const. art. lI, $ 7;see also Mont. Auto. Ass'nv. Greely (1982), 193 Mont.378, 388, 632 P.2d 300, 305. 24. Montana's free speech provision is afforded the same level ofprotection as the federal right under the First Amendment. City of Billings v. Laedeke (1991), 247 Mont. 151 , 158,805P.2d 1348, 1352; see also, City of Helena v. Krautter (1993),258 Mont.361, 363-44, 852 P.2d 636, 368 (holding that, if the statute in question was constitutional under the First Amendment, it was also constitutional under Article II, Section 7 of the Montana Constitution). 25. Freedom of speech is a "fundamental" right and is "essential to the common quest for truth and the vitality of society as a whole." State v. Dugan,2013 MT 38, fl 18,369 Mont. 39, 303 P.3d 755 (citations omitted). 26. Core political speech is accorded "the broadest protection." E.g., Mclntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n,514 U.S. 334,346 (1995). 27. Llke the circulation ofan initiative petition for signatures, ballot collection activity is "the type of interactive communication conceming political change that is appropriatelydescribedas'corepoliticalspeech."'Meyerv.Grant,486U.5.414,42122 (1988); see also Buckley v. Am. Constitutional Lqw Found., |nc.,525 U.S. 182, 186 (1999) (citing Meyer for this same proposition). 28. "The constitutional guaranty [sic] of free speech provides for the opportunity persuade to action, not merely to describe at 305 (citations omitted). 49 to facts." Greely, 193 Mont. at 387 , 632 P.2d