The Secretary of State of Washington is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Washington. The duties of the office are specified in Article III, Section 17 of the Washington State Constitution and Chapter 43.07 of the Revised Code of Washington. The Secretary of State is second (behind the Lieutenant Governor) in the line of succession to the Office of the Governor. There have been 14 Secretaries of State since Washington became a state.
The current Secretary of State, Sam Reed, is serving his third term. Reed was first elected as Washington's Secretary of State in 2000. Reed supported an initiative approved by Washington voters in 2004 that created a "Top 2 Primary" in which voters can choose any candidate on the primary ballot, regardless of political party. After political parties filed a lawsuit against the new primary system, Reed and State Attorney General Rob McKenna took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the Top 2 system in March 2008. In 2004, he launched the nation's first state government digital archives to rescue disappearing electronic history. Following Washington's controversial gubernatorial race in 2004 (the closest such contest in U.S. history), Secretary Reed successfully pushed for several improvements to the state's voting process.
Prior to his service as Secretary of State, Reed was elected Thurston County Auditor five times and served as Washington's Assistant Secretary of State under Lud Kramer and Bruce Chapman. Secretary Reed is past president of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). He also served as an advisor to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission from 2005 to 2007. Secretary Reed is currently a member of the Olympia Kiwanis Club and sits on the Washington State Historical Society Board of Trustees, TVW's Board of Directors, the YMCA Youth and Government Board, and the State Capitol Committee. Secretary Reed, whose family lived in Washington in territorial days, grew up in Wenatchee. His family later moved to Spokane where Reed graduated from Lewis and Clark High School. He attended Washington State University where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Social Studies and Master's Degree in Political Science.
Secretary of State Sam Reed and his wife Margie make their home in Olympia. They have two adult children, David and Kristen, and two grandchildren.
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Washington's Secretary of State has a broader range of duties than many other State Secretaries of State.
The Secretary of State is the keeper of the Seal of Washington, and is responsible for regulating its use, affixing it to commissions, pardons, and other documents to which the signature of the Governor is required, and filing and attesting to official acts of the Legislature and Governor.[1][2]
The Secretary also administers elections, voter registrations, and ballot initiatives.[3] These responsibilities include supervising state and local elections, and certifying the results of state primaries and general elections; filing and verifying initiatives and referenda; and producing and distributing the State Voters' Pamphlet and election-notice legal advertising. Lobbying and campaign finance matters are regulated by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.[4]
The Corporations Division of the Office of the Secretary of State[5] is responsible for registering limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, corporations, and limited liability companies.[6] This division is also responsible for registration of domestic partnerships.[7] He is not, however, responsible for Uniform Commercial Code matters, as these are administered by the Washington Department of Licensing.[8] The Secretary is one of the officials in charge of promoting international trade in the State of Washington.[9]
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