MISSOULA, Mont. — The Montana Secretary of State’s Office presented at the 2021 Montana Association of Clerk & Recorders and Election Administrators Convention in mid-August, with presentations including a variety of topics, including updates and demonstrations of the state’s future election management system, electMT.

Montana Notary Administrator Lori Hamm spoke on Tuesday, August 10, reviewing the changes encompassed in the 2019 Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts with a focus on how they directly impact the clerks and recorders. The pandemic has significantly increased the use of technology-based notarization around the country, and clerks and recorders in many Montana counties are already seeing such documents more frequently. Hamm’s presentation emphasized how electronic and remotely-notarized documents will look when presented for recording either in electronic or papered-out form. There was a great discussion about what recording staff needs to look for in determining whether they can accept electronically-notarized documents from both Montana and out-of-state notaries public.

Secretary Jacobsen introduced members of the Election Division on the morning of Thursday, August 12. The team provided relevant updates from the 67th Legislative Session before Information Security Analyst Austin Lindsay spoke about security best practices, training and continuing education, and an update on rules involving House Bill 530 (an act requiring the Secretary of State to adopt rules defining and governing election security).

The Elections Division continued its presentation, discussing a new release for the Montana Elections Technology Advisory Committee. The team then provided updates and demos of the electMT project, which will replace an outdated voter registration system with a modern, secure election management system.

The presentation was created and organized by Elections and Voter Services Manager Stuart Fuller; Elections Specialists Gabi Ames, Kyler Baker, Mark Carpenter, Conner Gagnon and Missy McLarnon; and Business Analyst Lisa Schlosser.