From Ballotpedia | Nevada Secretary of State | |
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| General information | |
| Office Type: | Partisan |
| Office website: | Official Link |
| Compensation: | $116,994 |
| 2025 FY Budget: | $29,217,700 |
| Term limits: | 2 terms |
| Structure | |
| Length of term: | 4 years |
| Authority: | Nevada Constitution, Article V, Section 19 |
| Selection Method: | Elected |
| Current Officeholder(s) | |
Nevada Secretary of State
Cisco Aguilar | |
| Elections | |
| Next election: | November 3, 2026 |
| Last election: | November 8, 2022 |
| Other Nevada Executive Offices | |
| Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Controller • Superintendent of Public Instruction • Agriculture Director • Insurance Commissioner • Director of Conservation and Natural Resources • Labor Commissioner • Public Utilities Commission • Employment, Training and Rehabilitation • Board of Regents | |
The Secretary of State for Nevada is the third highest ranking state official, behind the governor and lieutenant governor. The office is responsible for maintaining the official records of the acts of the state legislature and of the executive branch of the Nevada government.[1]
Nevada has a divided government where neither party holds a triplex. The Republican Party controls the office of governor, while the Democratic Party controls the offices of attorney general and secretary of state.
The current Nevada Secretary of State is Cisco Aguilar (D). Aguilar assumed office in 2023.
The state Constitution addresses the office of the secretary of state in Article V, the Executive Department.
Under Article V, Section 19:
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A Secretary of State, a Treasurer, a Controller, and an Attorney General, shall be elected at the same time and places, and in the same manner as the Governor.[2] |
There are no specific qualifications for this office.[2]
The Nevada Secretary of State is a publicly elected official who serves a term of four years in length.[2]
Term limits for the secretary of state are defined by Article 5, Section 19 of the Nevada Constitution, which prohibits a secretary of state from being elected to a third term.
Nevada Constitution, Article 5, Section 19-2:
| Any elector shall be eligible to any of these offices, but no person may be elected to any of them more than twice, or more than once if he has previously held the office by election or appointment. |
Cisco Aguilar defeated Jim Marchant, Janine Hansen, and Ross Crane in the general election for Nevada Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Cisco Aguilar (D) ![]() | 48.9 | 496,569 | |
![]() | Jim Marchant (R) ![]() | 46.7 | 473,467 | |
![]() | Janine Hansen (Independent American Party) | 1.7 | 17,472 | |
![]() | Ross Crane (L) | 0.9 | 8,821 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.8 | 18,144 | ||
| Total votes: 1,014,473 | ||||
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The Democratic primary election was canceled. Cisco Aguilar advanced from the Democratic primary for Nevada Secretary of State.
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Nevada Secretary of State on June 14, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | ![]() | Jim Marchant ![]() | 37.6 | 82,843 |
![]() | Jesse Haw | 20.3 | 44,778 | |
![]() | Richard Scotti ![]() | 15.9 | 34,984 | |
![]() | Kristopher Dahir ![]() | 6.9 | 15,204 | |
![]() | John Cardiff Gerhardt | 4.9 | 10,815 | |
| Gerard Ramalho | 4.2 | 9,325 | ||
![]() | Socorro Keenan | 1.8 | 4,025 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 8.3 | 18,245 | ||
| Total votes: 220,219 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
As established by Article 5, Section 8 of the Nevada Constitution, in the event of a vacancy, the governor fills the office by appointment. The appointee serves until a successor is elected and qualified.[2]
The secretary of state acts as the official record-keeper of the state of Nevada and is the keeper of the State Seal of Nevada. The secretary also maintains the official bond of the state treasurer and serves on the State Board of Prison Commissioners, the State Board of Examiners, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board, the State Records Committee, the State Advisory Committee on Participatory Democracy and the Executive Branch Audit Committee.[1]
The secretary also maintains the state's registry of living wills and advance medical directives and maintains a list of ministers and clergy in the state.[1]
As of January 29, 2021, the secretary of state's office is organized into the following divisions:
Before a petition may be circulated in Nevada it must first be submitted to the secretary of state. The ballot description must abide by the petition guidelines and consist of a 200 words or less description.[3]
After a petition has been circulated, signatures and all other documents relating to the petition should be submitted to the County Clerk in the respective county in which the petition was circulated.
The County Clerk will do a raw count of all the signatures and forward the number to the secretary of state within four days. If the raw count returns at 100 percent of signatures required to qualify a ballot then the secretary of state will notify the County Clerk to verify the rest of the signatures.
If more than 500 signatures have been submitted, the County Clerk will verify 500 or 5 percent (whichever is greater) signatures. A sponsor of the petition is allowed to witness the verification process. Upon the competition of this process the County Clerk forward the petition and certificate of the signature results to the secretary of state. The County Clerk will also notify the secretary of names that wrote in to be removed from the petition at this time. The entire process must be completed within nine days after the initial notification.
If the random sampling of signatures has between 90 percent or greater, but less than 100 percent the secretary of state will have the County Clerk reexamine the signatures for verification. This means that each signature must be re-verified within 12 days after receiving the order from the secretary of state.[3]
Once the initiative is qualified for the ballot, the secretary of state must draft the ballot as question. Upon consultation with the Nevada Attorney General the secretary will write the ballot as a question and a short summary of the ballot. The office is also obligated to determined the fiscal impact of the measure with Fiscal Analysis division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau. The secretary then assigns the ballot question a number for the General Election Ballot.[3]
The secretary of state may reject any arguments found to be libelous or factually inaccurate. The office also may make arguments more clear and concise as long as the message of the argument is not altered.[3]
The budget for the secretary of state's office in Fiscal Year 2025 was $29,217,700.[4]
Article 17, Section 5 of the Nevada Constitution mandates the salary of the secretary of state for the first term in office. However, Article 15, Section 9 provides that the state legislature may at any time increase or decrease the compensation, effective during the subsequent term. Since January, 2011, and on the first Monday of every fourth year thereafter, the secretary of state’s salary is increased by the cumulative percentage increase in the salaries of classified Nevada employees during the previous term.[5]
In 2023, the officer's salary was $116,994, according to the Council of State Governments.[6]
In 2022, the officer's salary was $112,462, according to the Council of State Governments.[7]
In 2021, the secretary of state received a salary of $112,462, according to the Council of State Governments.[8]
In 2020, the secretary of state received a salary of $102,898, according to the Council of State Governments.[9]
In 2019, the secretary of state received a salary of $102,898, according to the Council of State Governments.[10]
In 2018, the secretary of state received a salary of $102,898, according to the Council of State Governments.[11]
In 2017, the secretary of state received a salary of $102,898, according to the Council of State Governments.[12]
In 2016, the secretary of state received a salary of $102,898, according to the Council of State Governments.[13]
In 2015, the secretary of state received a salary of $102,898, according to the Council of State Governments.[14]
In 2014, the secretary of state was paid an estimated $102,898, according to the Council of State Governments.[15]
In 2013 the secretary of state was paid an estimated $102,898, according to the Council of State Governments.[16]
In 2010, the secretary of state was paid an estimated $97,000, according to the Council of State Governments.[17]
Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for chronological lists of historical officeholders; information for the Nevada Secretary of State has not yet been added because the information was unavailable on the relevant state official websites, or we are currently in the process of formatting the list for this office. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nevada Secretary of State. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
Nevada Secretary of State - Google News
Capitol Address:

Nevada State Capitol Building
101 North Carson Street, Suite 3
Carson City, NV 89701
Phone: (775) 684-5708
Fax: (775) 684-5725
Email: sosmail@sos.nv.gov
| Nevada | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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State of Nevada Carson City (capital) |
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Categories: [Nevada] [Offices of the American secretaries of state] [Nevada state executive offices] [Offices_of_state_executive_officials_by_state]