The secretary of state of New Mexico is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

. Twenty-six individuals have held the office of secretary of state since statehood. Since 1923, every elected New Mexican secretary of state has been a woman. The incumbent is

Maggie Toulouse Oliver Maggie Toulouse Oliver (born ) is an American politician from the state of New Mexico. She is the 26th Secretary of State of New Mexico and a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to serving as Secretary of State, Toulouse Oliver was the cou ...

, a Democrat. Toulouse Oliver's election was forced early due to the resignation of former secretary of state

Dianna Duran Dianna Duran (born July 26, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 24th Secretary of State of New Mexico. A Republican, she was the first member of her party in 80 years to serve in the position. On October 22, 2015, she resigned ...

in October 2015, after criminal charges were filed by the

Attorney General's Office The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a department of His Majesty's Government that supports the Attorney General and their deputy, the Solicitor General (together, the Law officers of the Crown in England and Wales). It is sometimes referred ...

alleging Duran converted campaign funds to personal gambling debt.

Powers and duties

The secretary of state is in effect the guarantor of the continuity and stability of good government in New Mexico, with his or her role extending to the enforcement of elections and government ethics laws, the certification, filing, and preservation of legislation, gubernatorial acts, and other instruments vital to the efficient operation of state government, and the registration and regulatory oversight of commerce and industry.

Elections administration

Th
Bureau of Elections
of the Office of the Secretary of State administers elections and enforces local, state, and federal election laws. The bureau's duties include training

county clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

s and

voting machine A voting machine is a machine used to record votes in an election without paper. The first voting machines were mechanical but it is increasingly more common to use '' electronic voting machines''. Traditionally, a voting machine has been defi ...

technicians, maintaining the state's

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

database, filing petitions of candidacy for candidates for public office, and administering the Native American Election Information Program, which is a special program to help improve voter registration and

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

among the Native American populations within the state.

Campaign finance and lobbying regulation

The Ethics Division of the Office of the Secretary of State regulates

campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political ac ...

and

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

within the state, and provides campaign finance and lobbying compliance training to various parties involved in government.

Commerce and industry

The Business Services Division of the Office of the Secretary of State provides various administrative and business-related services to the people of New Mexico. This includes the formation of

corporations A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

limited liability companies A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

general partnerships A general partnership, the basic form of partnership under common law, is in most countries an association of persons or an unincorporated company with the following major features: *Must be created by agreement, proof of existence and estoppel. ...

limited partnerships A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited p ...

, and

limited liability partnerships A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is not ...

, the registration of

trademarks A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

, and the indexing of

security interest In finance, a security interest is a legal right granted by a debtor to a creditor over the debtor's property (usually referred to as the ''collateral'') which enables the creditor to have recourse to the property if the debtor defaults in makin ...

s under the

Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of Uniform Acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through UC ...

and the

Food Security Act of 1985 The Food Security Act of 1985 (P.L. 99–198, also known as the 1985 U.S. Farm Bill), a 5-year omnibus farm bill, allowed lower commodity price and income supports and established a dairy herd buyout program. This 1985 farm bill made changes in a ...

. The division is also responsible for licensing notaries public, issuing

apostille The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). It ...

s, and maintaining the office's computer systems, including the voter registration system managed by the Bureau of Elections.

Miscellaneous functions

The secretary of state is responsible for filing

slip law In the United States, a slip law is an individual Act of Congress which is either a public law (Pub.L.) or a private law (Pvt.L.). They are part of a three-part model for publication of federal statutes consisting of slip laws, session laws, and ...

s, preserving legislative journals, and publishing state agency administrative rules. The secretary also maintains records of

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

petitions, serves as

registered agent In United States business law, a registered agent (also known as a resident agent, statutory agent, or agent for service of process) is a business or individual designated to receive service of process (SOP) when a business entity is a part ...

for

service of process Service of process is the procedure by which a party to a lawsuit gives an appropriate notice of initial legal action to another party (such as a defendant), court, or administrative body in an effort to exercise jurisdiction over that person s ...

on behalf of foreign corporations, and ensures that proposed amendments to the New Mexico Constitution are published in at least one newspaper in every county in the state for four consecutive weeks in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

.Service of Process upon the New Mexico Secretary of State
/ref> Moreover, the secretary of state is second in the line of succession after the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and the

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. The secretary of state therefore steps in as acting governor whenever the governor and lieutenant governor are both absent from the state.

List of New Mexico secretaries of state

References

External links

Official homepage of the New Mexico Secretary of State
{{New Mexico statewide elected officials