ABSTRACT
When the role of the Secretary of State was propelled into the spotlight with Florida Secretary Katherine Harris in the 2000 presidential election, it came with the headline: Recount. Certifying the results of an election or reviewing signatures to certify the placement of a candidate or initiative on the ballot is one of the most influential aspects of a Secretary of State’s duties. Manual recounts of ballots by hand led many counties to submit revised or amended vote totals, some of which Florida Secretary Katherine Harris rejected. In 2004, Washington Secretary Sam Reed was charged with overseeing three separate statewide recounts in the state’s gubernatorial election. Mark Ritchie’s reforms included allowing for online voter registration, allowing for early voting, centralizing and standardizing the uniform counting of absentee ballots, and reducing the vote margin that triggers an automatic, government-funded recount.
