HELENA, Mont. — Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen announced that all 56 Montana counties have completed a required third-party security assessment. County election offices are required to perform election security evaluations annually; a third-party assessment is required at least once every three years.
Secretary Jacobsen and the Secretary of State’s Office adopted rules governing election security, including security awareness training, physical security, and a variety of other election security requirements that have also been implemented.
“Elections are among the most important civic duties we have as Montanans, and it’s imperative that our elections are safe and secure,” said Secretary Jacobsen. “The Department of Homeland Security has designated election systems as ‘critical infrastructure’ across the country, so it’s necessary for Montana to implement the proper security protocols to protect our elections, train our state and local election officials, and provide confidence to voters across Montana.”
Montana’s third-party security assessments for counties began once rules were adopted in 2022. This initiative transcends beyond the security of elections, as all county infrastructure is now more resilient to cyber and physical security threats. Counties across the state have implemented a number of security best practices ranging from updated policies and procedures, contingency planning, multi-factor authentications, migrating to “.Gov” domains, and adopting significant physical security improvements that will protect county election staff and election equipment.
“This is the most impactful effort ever to secure Montana through a whole-of-state approach,” said Austin Lindsay, the Information Security Officer at the Montana Secretary of State’s Office. “Thank you to all of the Commissioners, Clerk and Recorders, Election Administrators, Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinators, third-party assessors, and IT professionals who dedicated their valuable time to participate in the assessment process and discussions.”
In addition to routine security training and updates, counties are encouraged to continually improve their security posture. The Secretary of State’s Office has made subgrants available to Montana counties to enhance their security by implementing security assessment recommendations and further implementing other security measures and procedures.
Secretary Jacobsen also recently announced that Montana is piloting a national project that will assist in maintaining a secure and accurate list of registered voters. Through the program, Montana receives address information from the private sector, allowing state and local election officials to assist voters who may need to update their voter registration information.
“Montana is proud to lead the way in providing accurate voter registration lists,” said Secretary Jacobsen. “The Secretary of State’s Office and our county election offices are proud to have an innovative way to assist voters with updating their information to ensure they receive their ballots and other important election-related correspondence.”
