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Secretary
of State - Kansas
Ron
Thornburgh
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The
office of the Secretary of State is one of four statewide
elected offices set forth in the Kansas Constitution. This
means the Secretary of State serves all the people in Kansas
and the office is up for election every four years. The
constitution creates the office, but state law defines the
duties of the office and gives it direction. Major divisions
within the office stem from three primary statutory
responsibilities: 1) administration of statewide elections,
2) administration of Kansas business entity laws, and 3)
administration of the Uniform Commercial Code.
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Aside
from these three statutory responsibilities, the Secretary of
State has numerous other duties. These include registering
notaries public, publishing the Kansas Register, selling state
flags and law books and filing corporate annual reports. Although
these duties are diverse, they all involve customer service. If I
were to summarize the purpose of the Secretary of State’s
office in a single sentence, it would be to provide the people of
Kansas with efficient, responsible and quality customer service.
In fact, a newspaper articles once described this office as the
least complicated, most accessible agency in state government. We
are constantly working to maintain a high standard of customer
service.
As
the chief election official for the state of Kansas, fair
elections and equal access to democracy are some of my highest
priorities. As president of the National Association of
Secretaries of State in 2002, I worked with members of Congress
to draft and pass the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which
President Bush signed into law on October 29, 2002. This bill
will ensure fair elections for all Kansans. I also promote the
importance of voting through Kids Voting Kansas, a program that
allows kids to vote in their own mock election.
As
technology changes, I believe it is important for government
agencies to keep up so they may provide the most current customer
services. Because of my efforts to lead Kansans to national
prominence in electronics services, I received the Agent of
Change award is 2002.
Sincerely,
Ron Thornburgh
Kansas Secretary of State
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