HELENA, Mont. — Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen joined election workers and funeral directors to celebrate the Secretary’s “Death of a Loved One” initiative being signed into law on Wednesday morning at the Montana State Capitol. House Bill 248, sponsored by Rep. Braxton Mitchell (R-Columbia Falls), simplifies the process for a family to remove a deceased loved one from Montana’s voter rolls.
HB 248 allows families to cancel a voter’s registration by providing Montana election officials with an obituary published by a funeral home, media organization, or other entity.
“As families navigate through the challenging time of losing a loved one, the last thing they need to worry about is a bureaucratic process to cancel their loved one’s voter registration,” said Secretary Jacobsen. “My Death of a Loved One initiative makes the process convenient and simple. Thank you to Rep. Mitchell for bringing this commonsense solution.”
Through partnerships and collaborations with Montana’s funeral home leaders, Secretary Jacobsen created a brochure that families receive as part of their grievance packet from the funeral home. The brochure provides the families with simple instructions for a family to cancel a loved one’s Montana voter registration.
Numerous funeral homes across Montana have requested the brochures to include in their grievance packets.
“The brochure on how to remove a loved one from the voter registration list is very informative and helpful. This is a great resource,” noted one Montana funeral home.
The Montana Funeral Directors Association expressed their gratitude, stating, “We are thankful to Secretary of State Jacobsen and election officials across the state for the opportunity to help families during this challenging time in their lives. Our members have found Secretary Jacobsen’s brochure to be extremely helpful in providing information to families.”
