HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has announced that the implementation of a new election management system has been delayed.
The new system was supposed to be implemented in early January, but county election administrators expressed concern that a quick transition to the software called ElectMT could harm the 2022 election’s integrity.
For 2022, the state will continue to utilize its current election management system called MT Votes.
The decision to delay the rollout came following a meeting between employees with the Secretary of State’s Office, a representative of the county election administrators, and the software vendor.
In a press release, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen said, “Montana will not launch an election management system that isn’t ready, and it’s not ready.”
The release says once ElectMT is ready, the new system will “provide a modern, user-friendly platform for local and state officials to administer elections.”
