A bipartisan group of Secretaries of State across the country are teaming up to lead the National Election Security Summit, joining election and security experts with election officials from federal, state and local agencies. The following Secretaries of State, who also serve as their state’s Chief Election Official, are ready to inform, prepare and equip local election officials to combat election security threats and vulnerabilities.
Jay Ashcroft, Missouri - Host State
Elected in November 2016, John R. (Jay) Ashcroft is Missouri’s 40th Secretary of State. Ashcroft brings a unique set of qualifications to the office, having earned a master’s degree in engineering management, teaching engineering and technology courses at the college level, and earning a Juris Doctorate from St. Louis University School of Law and practicing as an attorney. Ashcroft holds multiple certifications in the challenging arena of citizen privacy and data protection.
R. Kyle Ardoin, Louisiana
Secretary of State R. Kyle Ardoin became Louisiana’s 44th Secretary of State in May 2018 after serving as first assistant for eight years. He graduated from Louisiana State University where he majored in political science and minored in speech communications. Ardoin’s goals include selecting new voting equipment for the state, protecting the security of sensitive voter data, executing the high-profile 2018 Mid-Term Congressional Elections and implementing high-tech protections for both the election as well as the commercial sections of the office’s operations.
Barbara Cegavske, Nevada
Barbara Cegavske was elected Nevada Secretary of State in 2014. With more than 36 years of combined public service and small business experience, Cegavske brings a unique blend of business acumen and legislative expertise to the Secretary of State’s office. During her time in the Nevada Legislature, Cegavske assumed leadership roles as Co-Assembly Assistant Minority Floor Leader, Assistant Assembly Minority Whip, Senate Minority Whip, and Senate Assistant Minority Leader. She also chaired the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections for three legislative sessions.
Matthew Dunlap, Maine
Matthew Dunlap of Old Town was elected by the Legislature to serve as Maine's 47th and 49th Secretary of State. He was sworn into office on January 7, 2013. His career in public service began with his election to the Maine House of Representatives in 1996.
Tre Hargett, Tennessee
Tre Hargett was elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to serve as Tennessee’s 37th secretary of state in 2009 and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Accuracy, cost-effectiveness and accountability drive every decision within the Tennessee Department of State. Hargett places a premium on customer service while leveraging technology to create efficiencies that benefit taxpayers with a customer-centered approach to state government.
Jon Husted, Ohio
Jon Husted is the 53rd and current Ohio Secretary of State, a position he has held since 2011. In this role, he serves as the state’s top election official for one of the most hotly contested swing states in the country. Secretary Husted has made election security a top priority for his administration, working to preserve and protect the integrity of Ohio’s elections by making it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
Al Jaeger, North Dakota
Al Jaeger was elected in 1992 as North Dakota’s 14th Secretary of State and has been re-elected six times, most recently in 2014. He has been an active member of the National Association of Secretaries of State serving several terms on its Executive Committee and 25 years as a committee chairman. He heads a diverse agency handling elections, business registrations, contractor licensing, lien filings, notaries public, charities, filing of legislative bills, and combative sports. He is a lifelong resident of North Dakota.
Ruth Johnson, Michigan
Elected as Michigan's 42nd Secretary of State in November 2010, Ruth Johnson serves as chief motor vehicle administrator and chief election officer for the state's nearly 10 million residents. In her second term as secretary, Johnson has made huge strides in streamlining operations, improving customer service and safeguarding election integrity. Using technology and common sense and by fostering partnerships between the private and public sectors, her team at the Department of State cut costs, reduced their general fund budget by 20 percent and improved efficiency for the people of Michigan.
Connie Lawson, Indiana
Connie Lawson became Indiana’s 61st Secretary of State in 2012. As Indiana’s Chief Elections Officer, she is focused on ensuring the integrity and security of state elections. Since taking office, Lawson has championed sweeping election reforms, and has led the effort to clean Indiana’s voter rolls. She is also working to modernize elections by advocating for advanced cybersecurity protections and encouraging the adoption of vote centers. Lawson serves as Past President of the National Association of Secretaries of State and is an honorary governor of the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series.
Mark Martin, Arkansas
Mark Martin is serving his second term as Arkansas' 33rd Secretary of State. Prior to becoming Secretary of State, he served as a submariner in the Navy and served three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives. A mechanical engineer by trade, he is also a father, husband, scout leader, scuba instructor, and beekeeper. He and his wife Sharon have three children and live in Northwest Arkansas.
Rolando Pablos, Texas
Governor Greg Abbott appointed Rolando B. Pablos as the 111th Texas Secretary of State on January 5th, 2017. Secretary Pablos has an extensive record of public service, including tenure as a commissioner on the Texas Racing Commission and the Public Utility Commission of Texas. As a state official and in his private practice, Secretary Pablos has played critical roles in the advancement of direct investment, international relations, and trade with Texas’ partners across the globe. He has been instrumental in the success of many community development projects designed to improve quality of life, deliver educational opportunities, and help bring prosperity to the people of Texas.
Paul Pate, Iowa
Paul Pate was elected in 2014 to serve as the thirty-second Iowa Secretary of State. He previously served as Iowa Secretary of State from 1995-1999. Pate has worked to make voter registration easier for Iowans by instituting online voter registration, the Safe at Home address confidentiality program, and initiatives to help veterans and Iowans with disabilities vote. His goal is to make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat. Pate’s Election Modernization and Integrity Act was signed into law in 2017.
Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has spent her career as a public official working for greater transparency and ethics in government, fair and efficient elections, and increased voter access. First elected in 2016, Toulouse Oliver is focused on providing increased transparency in financial disclosure and campaign finance reporting, modernizing the online campaign finance system, encouraging New Mexicans to get registered and vote, and advocating for good government and stronger ethics legislation. A lifelong New Mexico resident, Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver previously served as Bernalillo County Clerk from 2007 to 2016.
Mac Warner, West Virginia
Andrew McCoy "Mac" Warner was elected to become West Virginia’s 30th Secretary of State in 2016. Warner graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and has degrees from West Virginia University's College of Law, the Army Judge Advocate General's School, and the University of Virginia Law School. Retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel after 23 years in the Army, Warner served as the Chief of International Law for the United States Army Europe, was an instructor at the Army Judge Advocate General's School, and served on the Staff at the U.S. Army War College. After retirement, Secretary Warner ran the Organizational Capacity Building Section of the world's largest Rule of Law Program in Afghanistan for the U.S. Department of State for five years.
Kim Wyman, Washington
Kim Wyman is Washington’s 15th Secretary of State. First elected in 2012, she is serving her second term and is only the second female Secretary of State in Washington’s history. Prior to being elected to this office, Kim served as Thurston County Elections Director for nearly a decade and was elected Thurston County Auditor from 2001-2013. Secretary Wyman is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Troy State University. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Leadership from City University, Seattle in 2015. Kim is a Certified Elections and Registration Administrator (CERA) from The Elections Center and Auburn University, and is a Washington State Certified Election Administrator.