Secretary of State
From Ballotpedia
Secretary of State is an official in the state governments of 47 of the 50 states of the United States. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this official is called the Secretary of the Commonwealth. In the states of Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah, there is no Secretary of State; in those states many duties that a Secretary of State might normally execute fall within the domain of the Lieutenant Governor. Like the Lieutenant Governor, in most states the Secretary of State is in the line of succession to succeed the Governor, usually immediately behind the Lieutenant Governor. In those states with no Lieutenant Governor, such as Arizona, the Secretary of State is sometimes first in the line of succession in the event of a vacancy in the governorship.
The actual duties of a state’s Secretary of State vary greatly from state to state. In most states, the Secretary of State’s office is a creation of the original draft of the state constitution. However, in many cases responsibilities have been added by statute or executive order.
Please see state specific Ballotpedia articles for more detail on how particular Secretary's of State can influence initiative and referendum.
Portions of this article have been adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.
