Bennett faces Jacobsen in 2020 Montanan secretary of state race: Christi Jacobsen

Republican Deputy Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is facing Sen. Bryce Bennett, D-Missoula, in the 2020 Montana Secretary of State race.

"I've always fought for the right for people to vote in person, I think it's the right they have and I will continue to fight for the right for people, Montanans to vote in person," Jacobsen said.

Jacobsen said her office would have no stance on a lawsuit filed by The Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Montana Republican State Central Committee, and Donald J. Trump for President Inc. alleging Montana Gov. Steve Bullock's Aug. 6 directive allowing counties in the state to decide whether to allow mail-in voting for the 2020 general election.

Jacobsen said the secretary of state's office has had 12 different lawsuits in the last three and a half years of those 12, whether a lawsuit or complaint has been done by the Democratic party.

"My position is to uphold and follow the law for the secretary of state's office," she said.

The filers of the lawsuit called the directive an unconstitutional power grab, saying in a press release it invites fraud and threatens the security of the election and by extension threatens the right to vote for Montanan.

Bullock's directive said that concern of the spread of COVID-19 at election polls was the reason for the directive to allow people to vote by mail, which also requires election officials to provide a polling place for people who prefer to vote in person.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives states and local governments the authority to take actions during an emergency to protect public health and safety.

When asked about former Secretary of State Bob Brown endorsing her opponent, she said, "Bob Brown is a Democrat and I wouldn't expect anything less."

Brown served as a Republican state legislator from 1972 to 1997 in both the House and Senate, including serving as Senate president. He was the Republican secretary of state from 2001-2004, and was the Republican candidate for governor in 2004, losing to Brian Schweitzer.

Jacobsen said the secretary of state serves on the State Land Board, and the Land Board exists to generate revenue for the school systems and to manage public lands, for the business registries, and to oversee and maintain uniformity for elections for the state of Montana.

She said she attended public schools in Montana as have her five children.

"I know the importance of generating revenue to fund our schools and the Land Board manages the public lands to ensure that revenue is generated to schools," Jacobsen said. "Again, I know because I, myself attended public schools in Montana and our five kids attended public schools. I know how important it is to properly fund and get the teachers the resources and the tools for the school system.

"I also have talked to farmers and ranchers across the state, and the feedback I've received from the ag community is that they're satisfied with the leases they currently are and so I would make sure I would never increase leases on farmers and ranchers," she added.

She said she also believes in public access to public lands while responsibly developing natural resources.

On the business side of things in the last three and a half years, she said, the office has  streamlined the business services.

"We were the first in the country to go completely online with all of our business filings and in doing that we've offered businesses to file 24 hours a day, seven days a week and on their phone, and reduced 50,000 errors a year," Jacobsen said. "The business services division is a well-oiled machine, we've also reduced call wait time, so when a business calls in when we took office in January of 2017 they were on hold for up to two hours at a time and we've reduced that down to 30 seconds or less. So the business calls in and needs help, we answer within 30 seconds or less."

"I'm very proud of the work that we've done in our business services division," she added

She said, on the election side of things, the office has a 20-year-old aging form that needs to be replaced and they procured the vendor to replace that system.

That is something she would like to partner with the counties to have up and running for the 2022 election, she said.

She said she thinks the biggest issue facing the office is continuing to fight to maintain the integrity of the elections.

"Every legislative session there is legislation that is proposed that chips away at the integrity and the security system, and it's very important for me that we have somebody leading our elections that is qualified to do the job like I am and to properly oversee and make sure that legislation that is passed is in effort to improve the security and integrity of our elections," Jacobsen said. "And if there's any legislation that's proposed that chips away at the integrity or the security of our elections that we make sure that legislation never gets passed."

She said she has the education and the experience to make her the best candidate for the secretary of state.

She has a bachelor's degree from Carroll College in Helena and a master's degree from the University of Montana in public administration, she said, adding that her career spans more than 20 years.

She said she started in the private sector with US West Communications and she is the current deputy secretary of state - she has been leading the office the last three and a half years.

"I know and have the experience to properly lead the elections in our state," Jacobsen said. "I am the only candidate that has the proper qualifications and the experience to lead the office the secretary of the state."

The secretary of state's office has kept its door open during the pandemic and shutdown, she said.

"We've maintained and stayed open to serving the businesses and the visitors during the shut down," she said. "Our office stayed open to the public. We never shut our doors and we did that while keeping our employees absolutely safe."