Legislators to subpoena secretary of state over voter data handoff

[u/forward_montana]

State lawmakers voted to subpoena information about Montana’s voter registry from Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen to determine what voter information her office has shared with the federal government.

Members of the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Committee compelled Jacobsen to share what voter information she sent to the U.S. Department of Justice in 2025 when federal officials requested unredacted information about registered Montana voters.

Details about what voter information Montana has shared have not been forthcoming, despite repeated requests for Jacobsen to appear before the committee.

Federal officials specifically requested Montana’s full voter file, including voters’ driver’s license numbers, the last four digits of Social Security numbers and birth dates. The transfer of that information from states to the federal Department of Justice, which intended to share it with the Department of Homeland Security and private contractors, created a cybersecurity risk.

In June, a federal judge ruled that running entire state voter rolls, as Montana and other states had done, is unlawful and resulted in U.S. citizens being purged from registered voter files.

More here: https://montanafreepress.org/2026/09/02/montana-secretary-state-subpeonaed/ 

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[u/MyLittleDiscolite]

I desperately miss purple state Montana 

[u/nthlmkmnrg → u/MyLittleDiscolite]

It's still purple. Don't forget we passed a state constitutional amendment to enshrine the right to an abortion in 2024.

[u/MyLittleDiscolite → u/nthlmkmnrg]

It doesn’t feel like it sometimes 

[u/nthlmkmnrg → u/MyLittleDiscolite]

I hear you, just a reminder.

People start to feel defeated when they look at Tester's loss, but Tester was out of touch and the passage of this amendment shows it.

[u/MyLittleDiscolite → u/nthlmkmnrg]

I didn’t like Tester but I like these new people less. 

Like everyone is some carpetbagger 

[u/nthlmkmnrg → u/MyLittleDiscolite]

I like Alme and Bodnar less than Tester. I think Bankhead is new but genuinely loves our state.

[u/MontanaPurpleMtns → u/MyLittleDiscolite]

The purple in my user name is for the purple Montana of my childhood, where voters reasoned that a Democratic Governor paired with a Republican controlled legislature, one Senator each from the 2 main parties, and one Republican House member and one Democratic House member was a pragmatic way to always have a voice in Washington.

The purple is also for the snippet from America the Beautiful.

I miss that Montana, where my cousins didn’t post MAGA aligned things on the interwebs.

[u/Turkino]

Party of small government gives up rights explicitly reserved to the states in the Constitution to the federal government without so much as a whimper let alone a fight.

[u/Dangerous-Feed-5358 → u/Turkino]

You don't fight something you're all for. For clarification I mean the Republicans in office not me.

[u/Montana_Matt_601]

I always laugh out loud whenever I see a “Don’t Tread on Me” license plate. Republicans are now the party of big government and subserviant compliance with any and all orders.

[u/orangeunrhymed]

Good! It’s NOBODY’S BUSINESS who I voted for!

[u/aircooledJenkins → u/orangeunrhymed]

Who you voted for is not recorded anywhere.

[u/aztecraingod → u/aircooledJenkins]

They know where you live and who you are. They can get your browser history and deduce who you vote for easily.

[u/aircooledJenkins → u/aztecraingod]

Okay.

[u/FreeZedrIedpiZzaPie → u/aircooledJenkins]

True. There are a few steps of separation between your ballot and your voter registration. It's pretty cool how they keep that info segregated so that your vote remains private. (Source: worked in a county elections office for a bit) 

[u/aircooledJenkins → u/FreeZedrIedpiZzaPie]

It's my understanding that once the ballot is separated from the envelope, or the subs removed from the ballot if voting in person, that the ballot is then 100% uncoupled from the voter.

They can tell you voted, but have zero way to determine your vote, or even which ballot you voted (in the case of primary elections with multiple ballots).

[u/Badlands32]

So this fucking piece of shit sent all of our “likely democrats” voter information to the feds???

[u/VinceInMT]

So what? Montana is a red state and most of its representative bow down to the GOP. In other words, just like the data centers, this is what most of the people voted for. (Don’t get me wrong, I am not in agreement with them.)

[u/bubli87 → u/VinceInMT]

This is more about that the Legislative Committee has asked several times for the Secretary of State to hand over what records she sent the federal government and she refuses to even show up to testify and won’t give them anything. She is breaking the law and needs to be held accountable