Massachusetts Secretary of State
Contents |
Current officeholder
The current officeholder is William F. Galvin. He was first elected to the statewide position in 1994 and subsequently re-elected to the office three more times since then. His current term expires in 2014.
Qualifications
There are no specific qualifications for this office.
Divisions
Divisions of the Secretary of Commonwealth include:
- Address Confidentiality Division
- Citizen Information Service
- Corporations Division
- Elections Division
- Massachusetts Archives
- Public Record/Lobbyist
- Registry of Deeds
- Securities Division
- State Records Center
Role in the initiative process
Massachusetts is one of the few state whose guidelines do not require proponents to file initiatives with the secretary of commonwealth first. In this state, one must first assemble 10 registered electors to sponsor a ballot. Then, with the full text of the ballot in had, they must arrive at the Election Commission or the board of registrars to file the petition. This must be done by the first Wednesday of August.
After the proponents have proven that they are registered voters, the attorney general will write a summary for the ballot and have it returned to the proponents. This is when the secretary of commonwealth file both the ballot language and the summary of the ballot. The secretary will then prepare blank petition forms with the summary printed on it for signature gathering. These forms will be available within 14 days of the submission. In order to pick these petition forms up from the printer, proponents must have an authorization slip from the secretary of commonwealth. Enough petition forms will be supplied to gather more than the required amount, but petitioners may print as many extra copies as they like.
Signature Verification
Signatures must be filed by the first Wednesday of December. After the necessary number of signatures have been certified and subsequently filed with the secretary of the commonwealth, the secretary transmits the initiative petition to the House Clerk for legislative action on the first legislative day of the year.
Elections
Massachusetts elects Secretaries of the Commonwealth in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not Presidential election years. For Massachusetts, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018 are all Secretary election years.
Electoral history
2002
- 2002 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary [1]
- William Galvin ran unopposed in this contest
| 2002 Race for Secretary of State - General Election [2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party |  William F. Galvin
|
74% | |
| Republican Party | Jack E. Robinson, III | 26% | |
| Total Votes | 1,988,822 | ||
2006
| 2006 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary [3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | William F. Galvin
|
83.1% | |
| Democratic Party | John Bonifaz | 16.9% | |
| Total Votes | 762,047 | ||
| 2006 Race for Secretary of State - General Election [4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party | William F. Galvin
|
73.0% | |
| Green Party | Jill E. Stein | 15.8% | |
| Write-In | 11.2% | ||
| Total Votes | 2,243,835 | ||
2010
- 2010 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary
- William Galvin ran unopposed in this contest
Compensation
In 2010, the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth was paid an estimated $130,916 according to the Council of State Governments.[5]
Contact information
Capitol Address:
Secretary of the Commonwealth
One Ashburton Place, Room 1611
Boston, MA 02108-1512
Phone: (617) 727-7030
Toll Free Phone: 1-800-392-6090
Fax: (617) 742-4528
E-mail: cis@sec.state.ma.us
See also
- William F. Galvin, Massachusetts Secretary of State
- Governor of Massachusetts
- Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
- Attorney General of Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Constitution
External links
Office of Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth
Portions of this article were adapted from Wikipedia.
References
- ↑ Massachusetts Elections Division - 2002 Democratic Primary Election Results
- ↑ Massachusetts Elections Division - 2002 General Election Results
- ↑ Massachusetts Elections Division - 2006 Democratic Primary Election Results
- ↑ Massachusetts Elections Division - 2006 General Election Results
- ↑ The Council of State Governments,"The Book of States 2010 Table 4.11," retrieved June 25, 2011
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