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Quick Take
Montana temporarily took down its online system used by citizens and military personnel voting abroad to fix a technical glitch that omitted the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates. Social media posts baselessly claimed that the Republican secretary of state purposely and illegally omitted the Democrats.
Full Story
Montana has supported the Republican candidate for president in every election since 1996. It doesn’t appear Montana’s presidential voting pattern will change in November. Former President Donald Trump leads his Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris, by about 17 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average.
But there have been concerns about efforts to prevent voters from successfully casting a ballot during this year’s election.
Earlier this year, the state’s Supreme Court struck down four laws passed in 2021 by the Republican-led state legislature that placed restrictions on voting. The restrictions — including largely ending same-day voter registration and eliminating student ID cards as a form of voter identification — were considered “unconstitutional” by the state’s high court.
Now, some social media posts are making the unfounded claim that the Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, a Republican, purposely and illegally left Harris’ name off ballots on the electronic system used by voters living overseas.
Comedian and Harris supporter D.L. Hughley shared a post from Occupy Democrats that read, “If a state left Trump off the ballot, do you think the media would respond with a shrug of the shoulders? The Montana secretary of state left Kamala Harris off the ballot. … They should be forced to start over, and the secretary of state should be jailed.”
A post on Threads said, in part, “Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen left Kamala Harris’s name OFF the Montana absentee ballot! …Republicans out here using weaponized incompetence to steal the election.”
However, the posts have mischaracterized a glitch in Montana’s electronic system for voters eligible to vote early under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, or UOCAVA. Such eligible voters are U.S. citizens living abroad and military members and their spouses. Montana reported that the state received 4,368 UOCAVA ballots in the 2020 election, according to the Election Assistance Commission.
The technical problem, which was resolved within hours, caused the names of Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, not to appear on the electronic ballot on the first day of early voting, Sept. 20.
A Sept. 23 press release from Jacobsen’s office said, “No, Montana did not leave a candidate off the 2024 General Election ballot. Contrary to egregious misinformation campaigns circulating online, the Montana Secretary of State’s Office certified all qualified candidates to appear on its 2024 General Election ballot on August 22.”
The press release went on to say that the “2024 General Election officially began [Sept. 20] for eligible voters covered under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). Shortly after going live at 8 a.m., election officials were notified about Montana’s Electronic Absentee System (EAS), which is the system exclusively used by a small number of eligible UOCAVA (e.g. Military serving abroad and overseas citizens) voters to access and mark their ballot. The Secretary of State’s Office took the EAS offline while working with the vendor until troubleshooting was completed.” [Emphasis is theirs.]
By the afternoon of Sept. 20, “the system was back online and available to eligible UOCAVA voters, including those few voters who may have been impacted,” the statement said.
“No [print] ballots were affected, including those that will be sent to registered absentee voters and those that will be presented to voters at the polling place on Election Day,” the release said.
The Office of the Secretary of State told us that it had received a report on Sept. 20 of a ballot not displaying properly for a UOCAVA voter who was using the electronic voting system.
In an email to FactCheck.org on Sept. 25, the office said: “As mentioned, the system was taken offline in the morning for troubleshooting with the vendor, and it was back online in the afternoon. The potentially impacted UOCAVA voter who submitted a ballot has since been contacted, and no further action is required.”
The office later clarified: “The report we received [Sept. 20] from one of our counties stated that a voter had called them and reported that the system had not displayed Vice President Harris (and Tim Walz) under the race for President.”
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
270towin.com. “Montana.” Accessed 25 Sep 2024.
Five Thirty Eight. Montana : U.S. Senate : 2024. Accessed 25 Sep 2024.
Montana Democratic Party v. Christie Jacobsen. DA 22-0667. Montana Supreme Court. 27 Mar 2024.
NBC Montana Staff. “Montana Secretary of State served lawsuit for illegal removal of voter signatures.” NBC Montana. 10 Jul 2024.
Montana Secretary of State. Military & Overseas Voters. “UOCAVA Eligible Voters.” Accessed 26 Sep 2024.
Montana Secretary of State. Bulletin. “No, Montana did not leave a candidate off the 2024 General Election ballot.” 23 Sep 2024.
Montana Secretary of State Office. Email to FactCheck.org. 23 Sep 2024.
Montana Secretary of State Office. Email to FactCheck.org. 25 Sep 2024.