Secretary of State of Washington

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The secretary of state of Washington is an independently elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Washington. Fifteen individuals have held the office of Secretary of State since statehood. The incumbent is Steve Hobbs, a Democrat.[1]

Qualifications

To hold office as Secretary of State, a person must be a United States citizen registered to vote in the state of Washington, provide a $10,000 surety bond to the state conditioned on faithful execution of the duties of office, and reside in the city of Olympia, Washington, by the time of inauguration. Only the governor, state treasurer and secretary of state are constitutionally required to live in the capital city.

Powers and duties

The secretary of state is in effect the guarantor of the continuity and stability of good government in Washington, with his or her role extending to the certification, filing, and preservation of public records, the supervision of all aspects of state and local elections, and the registration and regulatory oversight of businesses and charities.[2]

Records management

The secretary of state is the keeper of the Seal of Washington as prescribed by the constitution, and as such is responsible for regulating its use and certifying to the official acts of the Legislature and governor.[3][4] In this role, the secretary of state has additional duties related to the disposition of state honors and records. For example, the secretary of state regulates the use of the Washington State flag and is an ex officio non-voting member on the committees for the Washington Medal of Valor and the Washington Medal of Merit.[5][6] Similarly, the secretary of state directs and supervises Washington's state archives and state library. The state archives coordinates the preservation and management of public records across government, whereas the state library maintains libraries in correctional and mental health institutions and supports scholarly study of its vast research collections.[7][8]

Election administration

The Elections Division of the Office of the Secretary of State has general oversight of election administration throughout the state, with individual county auditors being responsible for candidate registration, ballot preparation, polling, and canvassing.[9] The secretary of state exercises this constitutional power, duty, and authority as chief election officer by accrediting the balloting procedures used by each county, certifying the results of elections, verifying petition signatures used to qualify initiatives and referendums, and distributing the state voter's pamphlet and official notice of elections advertisements.[10] Lobbying and campaign finance are separately regulated by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.[11]

Business registration

The Corporations Division of the Office of the Secretary of State registers a variety of business associations by virtue of the secretary of state's role as company register, including corporations, cooperatives, limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships, limited partnerships, assumed business names, and trademarks.[12][13] The secretary also regulates charities and charitable trusts, including registering individuals, organizations and commercial fundraisers involved in charitable solicitations.[14] Unlike in some other states however, the secretary of state is not responsible for commissioning notaries or recording liens or financing statements under the Uniform Commercial Code. Those functions are instead performed by the Washington State Department of Licensing.[15][16]

Miscellaneous duties

A variety of miscellaneous duties have been assigned to the secretary of state through statute, including coordination of the state's Address Confidentiality Program and administration of the state's workplace giving program, "the Combined Fund Drive".[17][18] Constitutionally speaking, the Secretary of State is likewise second (behind the lieutenant governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Washington.[19]

List of Washington secretaries of state

The State of Washington has had a total of sixteen secretaries of state:[20]

# Image Name Term Party
1 Script error: No such module "Sort". 1890–1893 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Republican
2 Script error: No such module "Sort". 1893–1897 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
3 Script error: No such module "Sort". 1897–1901 style="background:Template:Party color" |Populist
4 File:Samuel Nichols.jpg Script error: No such module "Sort". 1901–1909 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
5 File:Ithamar Howell.jpg Script error: No such module "Sort". 1909–1920 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
6 Script error: No such module "Sort". 1920–1933 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
7 Ernest Hutchinson 1933–1938 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Democratic
8 Script error: No such module "Sort". 1938–1948 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Democratic
9 Script error: No such module "Sort". 1948–1957 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Democratic
10 File:President of the Senate Victor A. Meyers.jpg Script error: No such module "Sort". 1957–1965 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Democratic
11 Script error: No such module "Sort". 1965–1975 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
12 File:Bruce Chapman census.jpg Script error: No such module "Sort". 1975–1981 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
13 File:Ralph Munro.jpg Script error: No such module "Sort". 1981–2001 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
14 File:Sam Reed - Washington secretary of state (cropped).jpg Script error: No such module "Sort". 2001–2013 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
15 File:Kim Wyman (cropped).jpg Script error: No such module "Sort". 2013–2021 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Republican
16 File:Steve Hobbs (cropped).jpg Script error: No such module "Sort". 2021–present style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Democratic

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ About the Office
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Elections
  10. ↑ Title 29A, Revised Code of Washington
  11. ↑ Washington State Public Disclosure Commission homepage Template:Webarchive
  12. ↑ Washington Secretary of State Corporations Division page
  13. ↑ Comparison of business structures, from the Office of the Washington Secretary of State
  14. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, Charities & Trusts Division
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Washington State Address Confidentiality Program
  18. ↑ Combined Fund Drive
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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