'Flunking': Audit of Secretary of State's Office shows misstatements, lack of management [View all]

A new audit report by the Legislative Audit Division said ongoing accounting issues at Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s office are so problematic the financial statements for 2023 cannot be trusted, and those from 2024 can only be trusted with explanation.

At a meeting Thursday of the Legislative Audit Committee, state Sen. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, characterized the report as the Secretary of State’s office “flunking,” a description that auditors confirmed, even though a representative from the office disputed that, calling it a model for other agencies.

Jacobsen did not appear before the committee, and Deputy Secretary of State Angela Nunn did not explain her absence.

At the heart of the failed report, state auditors found the Secretary of State used incorrect estimates of a software program to make the financial report look better to legislators, and then failed to document its rationale even though Nunn insisted the department was not trying to mislead the public.


https://dailymontanan.com/2026/01/15/flunking-audit-of-secretary-of-states-office-shows-misstatements-lack-of-management/