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HELENA — Montana voters rejected a ballot measure that sought to extend the state's Medicaid program by raising the tobacco tax.

The ballot measure was the target of multimillion-dollar campaigns that filled the airwaves with ads, including $17 million spent by Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris USA.

Helena voter Alice Elliott said she voted against the tax measure because she thought both sides had tried to mislead the public with their ads.

"In a case like that, you vote no," she said Tuesday. "I just think we were not fully informed."

The results mean the expanded Medicaid program covering 96,000 people will expire next year unless the Montana Legislature renews it. That sets up a potential repeat of the 2015 battle between the Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock before compromise legislation passed with bipartisan support.

The initiative would have raised the state's tax on a pack of cigarettes to $3.70, raised the tax on snuff and created a new tax on vaping products. Estimates had put the additional revenue at $74 million a year by 2023.

Besides Medicaid expansion, the money would have gone toward other health and veterans programs and into the state's general fund.