Safety First – Montana Election Judges Prepare for Midterms

Election officials and election judges from around the state got a refresher course from Montana Secretary of State officials last week. Austin Lindsay, Information Security Officer in the Secretary of State office in Helena said in a news release that the three-day session focused on the importance of cybersecurity.

Lindsay was assisted by three other agencies - the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Montana Analysis & Technical Information Center and the National Guard. Those attending also talked about voter registration, recruitment ideas for election judge training, along with the process for candidate filing.

Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen thanked her staff for conducting the three-day event and also said, "I'm thankful for the hard work of state and local election officials. Exercising our right to vote is an important civic duty, one that could not be performed without election officials, election judges, and poll workers."

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Most county election officials also conduct training sessions for those who help with the polling places around Montana. The primary election is in June and the general election is in November.

Candidates Are Filing for New Montana Seat

As far as candidate filing, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen said that as of last Friday, 207 people have filed for legislative races in the June 7th Primary election, with 131 Republicans, 73 Democrats and three Libertarian candidates filing so far. There are 126 seats open in the Montana Senate and House of Representatives in this year's election.

And, there are now (as of the last U.S. Census) two U.S. House of Representative Districts for Montana - District 1 has six candidates so far, and District 2 also has six people officially running for office. The filing deadline is only three weeks away - March 14 at 5 p.m. Statewide, state district, or legislative candidates can file online, in person at the Helena Secretary of State's office or by mail or fax. Local candidates can file with their individual county election office.