Legislators Slam Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen for Ignoring Montana’s Privacy Laws, Lack of Transparency
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 5, 2026
CONTACT
press@montanademocrats.org
Helena, MT – Members of the Legislative Audit Committee are speaking out this week against Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen and her office for sending out a political mailer to voters last month and turning over confidential voter information to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
Representative Mary Caferro, a member of the Legislative Audit Committee, slammed Jacobsen on KGEZ Wednesday morning for “turning her nose up to the Montana Constitution”, violating Montanans’ right to privacy by sharing voter data with the federal government.
“Montanans do not want their information shared,” said Caferro on KGEZ. “We have an expectation of privacy.”
Caferro also blasted Jacobsen for refusing to disclose the funding source for the nearly $200,000 political mailer, featuring a laundry list of self-promotional “achievements” and a photo of Jacobsen posing alongside President Donald Trump.
“What I do know is there are a lot of questions to be answered, and Christi Jacobsen is not being transparent or accountable for what she did and why.”
Reporting from the Montana Free Press confirms that Jacobsen’s office did hand over the voter data to the federal government, and did not inform the Audit Committee.
“Can confirm the Legislative committee that has oversight over the MT SoS did not tell us a single thing about this,” said Representative Kelly Kortum, a member of the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee, on X Thursday morning.
“I have requested that our next audit meeting, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, show up in person and explain and answer the questions,” Caferro told KGEZ hosts. “Hopefully she’ll do it before then.”
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