ABSTRACT
In 1972, Bill Gardner and several other young twenty-somethings were elected to serve in the New Hampshire state legislature. At the time Gardner was elected, on the eve of Watergate, election reform was on the minds of many of his colleagues in the legislature. Michael Mauro and Gardner’s experiences epitomize the unique vantage point, bully pulpit, and credible authority that accompanies being the state’s chief elections official. Secretaries of State are able to identify and advocate for reforms to the elections process with an authority that few other figures possess. In 2003, Indiana Secretary Todd Rokita developed a ’Vote Indiana Team’ to develop a plan for improving Indiana’s elections process. In addition to championing reforms to their state’s election laws, Secretaries are able to use their office in creative ways to develop, implement, or advocate for policies for such things as training and recruiting poll workers, maximizing the efficiency of precinct-level voting, and reforming the presidential primary process.
