Secretary of State

The Basics

Almost every state and U.S. territory has a Secretary of State, and in 35 of those states it’s an elected position voted on by all the state’s voters. The Secretary of State is an important leader in your state government – in most states, they’re in the gubernatorial line of succession, meaning they are one of the people who could become acting governor if your governor resigns, dies, or can’t do the job for any other reason.

The responsibilities of a Secretary of State can vary a lot depending on where you live, but the most common job they have is acting as your state’s chief elections official – if your Secretary of State has this power, it makes them one of the most important people in the state! Because they enforce voting and elections rules, and help local elections officials do their jobs, the Secretary of State has the power to make voting and running for office easier or more difficult. 

Here are some of the other responsibilities your Secretary of State might have:

• Overseeing your state’s Address Confidentiality program
  Most states have a program like this, and it’s a crucial resource for survivors of domestic violence and other people who might need their personal information kept out of public records for safety reasons
• Resources for businesses
  Enforcing business rules, registering trademarks, keeping business records, and chartering businesses, partnerships, and corporations
• Keeping all kinds of official records
  This can include vital records like birth, death, and marriage certificates; land transactions and property ownership records; and a lot more
• Issuing professional licenses
  If you want to go into a career that requires a license, this office is often in charge of the process for getting that license
• Issuing driver’s licenses and state IDs 

As you can see, this office can be a bit of a grab bag – scroll down to your state to see the details for where you live. No matter the specifics, the Secretary of State has power over a lot of your everyday interactions with government.

Source: the National Association of Secretaries of State

How can I make my voice heard?

Put it to a vote

If you live in one of the 35 states that elects its Secretary of State, your vote is your voice. Check here to see if you have the opportunity to elect your Secretary of State, then be sure to register and vote!

You’ll also want to research each candidate’s positions on issues you care about – we’d recommend seeing what your local newspaper has to say and tracking your candidates on ActiVote.

If you’re talking politics on social media, remind your friends to vote for Secretary of State. A lot of people just vote for the races at the top of the ballot and then call it a day!

Speak to the manager

Everyone has a boss. If you don’t live in a state that elects the Secretary of State, there’s a good chance the governor is that boss and has the task of appointing someone to the job. Tell your governor what qualities and policy positions you want to see from a Secretary of State, and ask that they appoint someone who’s up to snuff.

Love or loathe the Secretary of State your governor has appointed? Let them know at the ballot box.

Press print

Writing an op-ed or letter to the editor for your local newspaper is the perfect way to get the issues you care about in front of more eyeballs. Think your Secretary of State is making the right choice? The wrong choice? Want to prob a candidate to state their position on a particular issue? Write it up and send it in – head over here to learn how!

Nice to meet you

Your Secretary of State is accountable to you, just like any other public officials. Want to shake up the way things run in your state? Get a meeting to discuss the things you care about what your Secretary of State can do about it, then learn how to make it a good one.

Put in the work

Volunteering for a campaign is a great way to really dig into the issues that matter to you, so give it a try next time there’s a Secretary of State race coming up where you live. In the meantime, you can volunteer with an organization that advocates for things you care about, and encourage it to get involved in recruiting and supporting candidates (within the limits of the law) who will fight for your issue.

Pressure

Your Secretary of State doesn’t live in a sensory deprivation chamber. They talk to and work with other leaders in your state. You can leverage those relationships by asking your governor and state legislators to push the Secretary of State to do what you think is right.

What have Secretaries of State done?

Secretaries of State can influence a lot of different areas of policy, especially voting and elections. Here are just a few examples of actions that have made a big impact:

• Nancy Landry
  Louisiana
  Shared Louisiana’s new voter list maintenance data with neighboring states, to make sure Louisiana’s voter rolls were accurate by detecting duplicate registrations
• Adrian Fontes
  Arizona
  Testified before Congress about the increase in violence and threats against election officials his state has experienced and the negative impact it’s had on election administration, and called for more protections for these officials
• Jocelyn Benson
  Michigan
  During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Benson made absentee voting easier by automatically mailing every registered voter an absentee ballot application
• Mac Warner
  West Virginia
  Joined a 2018 lawsuit arguing that states should be able to delete the registrations of voters who don’t vote regularly; the U.S. Supreme Court agreed, ruling that these voter roll purges were legal

How does it work in my state?

Scroll down and click on your state to learn more about the specifics of the Secretary of State’s powers and responsibilities where you live. (If your state isn’t here yet, check back often – we’re adding more info all the time. If the Secretary of State isn’t an elected position where you live, it won’t appear here.)