Wanted: Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen at the Legislature

Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle still have questions for Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen.

Jacobsen, however, has not been present for at least a couple of recent meetings of legislative committees charged with oversight of the Secretary of State’s Office and audit responsibilities.

As a result, some legislators are considering their subpoena power, albeit reluctantly.

The questions include ones about the specific information the Secretary of State provided to the U.S. Department of Justice, a postcard her office sent out, unauthorized voters, social media ads, and more.

Secretary of State spokesperson Richie Melby said Jacobsen has responded to “every one of the inquiries” one committee posed, and any suggestion she hasn’t is a “false” narrative likely drummed up for “social media talking points.”

And Sen. Mike Cuffe, a member of one of the oversight committees, said he’s worked with Jacobsen on a number of bills, and her office has done well with election integrity and has answered questions for years.

“I’m a fan of the Secretary of State, and I’m not going to add anything negative to whatever is going on,” said Cuffe, a Republican from Eureka.

But both Democrats and other Republicans have expressed dissatisfaction with the sparse communication from Jacobsen, and, most recently, no presence at all from her office at the State Administration and Veterans’ Affairs interim committee legislative meeting last week.

That committee’s responsibilities include oversight of the Secretary of State’s Office, and the recent meeting followed requests for information from Jacobsen.

Cuffe pointed out it’s campaign season, which he said should be taken into account. Jacobsen announced she is running in the Republican primary for the U.S. House in the western district.

Melby and Chairperson Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, said Austin James, elections director, had welcomed a new baby, so he couldn’t make the meeting as he’d planned.

But Sen. Wendy McKamey, a Great Falls Republican, said the Secretary of State’s Office has other employees who could have shown up.

McKamey said the committee needs the Secretary of State’s Office to participate for it to execute its oversight role.

She said she didn’t want to “make a mountain out of a molehill,” but committee members and members of the public had questions that went unanswered at the meeting.

“To be snubbed, quite frankly, at the end of this conversation was leaving it without resolution,” McKamey said.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice started demanding voter rolls from states, and it has sued states that have not complied with its requests — a demand described as “unprecedented” by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The DOJ called for “unredacted voter rolls,” which would include the last four digits of people’s Social Security Numbers or their driver’s license numbers.

The Montana Constitution has strong protections for privacy, and Jacobsen has denied meeting all of the demands of the Department of Justice.

In an earlier social media post, she said she had not provided an unredacted version of the state’s voter rolls to the federal government, but Jacobsen has not publicly elaborated.

At the meeting, Manzella said if she understood the information relayed to her by the Secretary of State’s Office, she believes state officials turned over voter rolls with redacted driver’s license numbers but unredacted partial Social Security Numbers.

Manzella said the rationale is that the federal government itself issues the Social Security numbers, but the state issues the driver’s license numbers.

Melby, with the Secretary of State’s Office, declined to comment on the information Manzella provided to the committee.

“Given ongoing federal litigation in nearly 30 states and the District of Columbia to enforce federal law, the office has not and cannot provide official comment regarding particular matters; therefore, no staff member has done nor will do so at this time,” Melby said.

The Brennan Center, a nonpartisan law and policy organization at New York University School of Law, said the collection of sensitive information may violate state and federal laws and is “a clear encroachment on states’ power to run elections as outlined in the (U.S.) Constitution.”

In a phone call, Rep. Marc Lee, vice chairperson of SAVA, said the extent of information the Secretary of State provided to the feds was “clear as mud.”

At the meeting, legislators heard about their subpoena power. Some said a subpoena should be a last resort, but lawmakers expressed frustration with the lack of communication from Jacobsen.

Sen. Jacinda Morigeau, D-Arlee, described the answers her office provided in a memo as “not adequate.” Rep. Kelly Kortum, D-Bozeman, said this week legislators remain “in the dark,” and at the meeting, he raised the question of the committee’s subpoena power.

Andria Hardin, with Legislative Services, said the committee does have the authority, but it is limited and must be drafted to meet a specific purpose. Hardin said a subpoena can’t be used for information that can “reasonably” be gathered from another source.

This week, Kortum said he is going to work with Vice Chairperson Lee, D-Butte, to see if there is interest in a subpoena from some Republicans on the committee as well. He also said there isn’t a rush given it’s election season.

In a phone call, Lee said he would like to see the situation handled without a legal remedy, and government works better when branches cooperate.

But Lee also said the committee is lacking information it needs to make informed decisions.

“We just haven’t had a very good response back from the Secretary of State’s Office to provide us this information that we certainly need,” Lee said.

Kortum said the information sought includes details about the voter rolls transfer as well as the source of funding for a postcard her office mailed.

The postcard featured a picture of Jacobsen and President Donald Trump and announced a partnership with the Trump administration to strengthen election security.

Some Montanans alleged it served as inappropriate campaign material.

The Commissioner of Political Practices said an elected official has a right and responsibility to communicate with voters, and the mailing did not appear to serve a political purpose. Jacobsen was not a candidate for office at the time of the decision.

At the meeting, Kortum suggested diplomacy first.

“Can we have one more try to get it the nice way before we get a little bit more aggressive?” Kortum said, asking Manzella to encourage Jacobsen to show up next time.

In response, Manzella said Jacobsen had already indicated she couldn’t comment on the voter rolls, but she said the committee could “certainly make the request.”

In a brief phone call, Manzella said she did not believe the committee has the power of subpoena under the current circumstances, although she isn’t certain.

Legislative Audit Committee Chairperson Jerry Schillinger, R-Circle, also had sent Jacobsen questions about the postcard, and he said this week he received a response, but he expressed frustration with the timing and the “simplistic” content.

Schillinger, who has said he believes Jacobsen’s office is doing good work, received a response about a month after he sent her questions instead of within the 10 or so days he had requested.

Schillinger also said the tone of the letter was disappointing. He said he had served up “a big softball,” an offer for her to demonstrate her office’s successes, and instead of taking that opportunity, she questioned the inquiry.

“It’s unfortunate that the Legislative Audit Committee is wasting its time on trivial matters,” Schillinger said was his interpretation of her response.

But Schillinger said the committee has a job to do, which is to be stewards of taxpayer money and fees the Secretary of State’s Office collects, and the questions were fair.

“The committee’s concern or questions just reflects that honest stewardship that we feel that we have,” said Schillinger, also chairperson of the Montana Freedom Caucus.

He said he would expect Jacobsen to have the same interest in such stewardship, but instead, she tried to “belittle” the committee for asking questions.

“But members of the public have contacted us asking what the heck is going on here,” Schillinger said.

He too said he wished Jacobsen had shown up herself to the last meeting rather than sending her deputy, especially given the poor results of the most recent audit.

The Legislative Audit Committee meets again in April, and the State Administration and Veterans’ Affairs committee meets again in May.

Melby, with the Secretary of State’s Office, did not address a question about whether Jacobsen would plan to attend either of those meetings herself.

He also did not address a question about why her office did not have another representative at the recent SAVA meeting since the elections director could not be present as planned.