HELENA – Montana is receiving $3 million in federal grant money to improve election security.
The money is part of $380 million allocated by Congress for states to strengthen their voting systems amid threats from Russia and others.
States can use the money to improve cybersecurity, buy voting equipment, protect their voter rolls and improve communications with county election officers. States have five years to spend the money and must provide a match of 5 percent, or $150,000 in Montana’s case.
Christi Jacobsen, the chief of staff for Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, said Tuesday that her office’s plan on how to spend the state’s share will be ready the last week of September.
Montana and Kansas are the only two states that have not yet publicly detailed how they plan to allocate their grants.