Secretary of State of California

Chief elections officer of California, United States

Secretary of State of California

Great Seal of the State of California

State flag

Incumbent
Shirley Weber

since January 29, 2021

Government of California
Style| The Honorable
Madam Secretary
Term length| Four years, two term limit
Inaugural holder| William Van Voorhies
1849
Formation| Constitution of California
Salary| $163,917
Website| www.sos.ca.gov

The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeholder is restricted by term limits to two terms. The current secretary of state is Shirley Weber, who assumed the role in 2021 after Alex Padilla's appointment to the US Senate.[1]

## Duties

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### Elections

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Office of the Secretary of State of California in Sacramento

The secretary of state is California's chief elections officer, overseeing all federal and state elections in the state and maintaining a database of registered voters.[2] The officeholder is also responsible for disclosure of campaign and lobbyist financial information, under the California Political Reform Act of 1974.

### Corporations

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The Office of the Secretary of State has a number of responsibilities related to corporations; the largest portion office is the Business Programs Division, which handles corporate filings. The Business Entities Section processes, files and maintains records related to corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and other business entities conducting or planning to conduct business in California.

### Registries

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The office also maintains a number of registries, including the Safe at Home confidential address program and the Domestic Partners and Advance Health Care Directive.[3] Other roles of the secretary of state include safeguarding the California State Archives and sitting on the board of trustees of the California Museum, though the officeholder has not been responsible for the California State Library since 1862.[4][5]

### Organization

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The Secretary of State's Office is divided into six main divisions:[citation needed]

* Executive Division, which also includes the Office of Elections Cybersecurity and the Office of Voting Systems Technology Assessment.
* Elections Division
* Political Reform Division, which maintains the registry of lobbyists, campaign finances, etc.
* Management Services Division, which includes accounting, human resources, building operations, etc.
* Business Programs Division, which handles the registration of companies, notary services, etc.
* State Archives, which also administers the State Museum that is a part of the Secretary of State's headquarters in downtown Sacramento.

The Secretary of State's Office also works in conjunction with the state Voting Modernization Board.

## List of secretaries of state of California

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# | Image | Name | Term of office | Party

|
|
|
|

1  |  | William Van Voorhies | 1849–1853  | Democratic
2  |  | James W. Denver | 1853–1855  | Democratic
3  |  | Charles H. Hempstead | 1855–1856  | Democratic
4  |  | David F. Douglass | 1856–1858  | American
5  |  | Ferris Foreman | 1858–1860  | Democratic
6  |  | Johnson Price | 1860–1862  | Democratic
7  |  | William H. Weeks | 1862–1863  | Republican
8  |  | A. A. H. Tuttle | 1863  | Republican
9  |  | Benjamin B. Redding | 1863–1867  | Unionist Republican
10  |  | Henry L. Nichols | 1867–1871  | Democratic
11  |  | Drury Melone | 1871–1875  | Republican
12  |  | Thomas Beck | 1875–1880  | Democratic
13  |  | Daniel M. Burns | 1880–1883  | Republican
14  |  | Thomas Larkin Thompson | 1883–1887  | Democratic
15  |  | William C. Hendricks | 1887–1891  | Democratic
16  |  | Edwin G. Waite | 1891–1894  | Republican
17  |  | Albert Hart | 1894–1895  | Republican
18  |  | Lewis H. Brown | 1895–1899  | Republican
19  |  | Charles F. Curry | 1899–1911  | Republican
20  |

| Frank C. Jordan | 1911–1940  | Republican
21  |  | Paul Peek | 1940–1943  | Democratic
22  |  | Frank M. Jordan | 1943–1970  | Republican
Acting  |  | H. P. Sullivan | 1970–1971  | Republican
23  |  | Jerry Brown | 1971–1975  | Democratic
24  |  | March Fong Eu | 1975–1994  | Democratic
Acting  |  | Tony Miller | 1994–1995  | Democratic
25  |  | Bill Jones | 1995–2003  | Republican
26  |  | Kevin Shelley | 2003–2005  | Democratic
27  |  | Cathy Mitchell | 2005  | Democratic
28  |  | Bruce McPherson | 2005–2007  | Republican
29  |  | Debra Bowen | 2007–2015  | Democratic
30  |  | Alex Padilla | 2015–2021  | Democratic
Acting  |  | James Schwab  | 2021  | Democratic
31  |  | Shirley Weber | 2021–present  | Democratic

## See also

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* Government of California
* Politics of California
* Impeachment in California

## References

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1. ^ "Alex Padilla Resigns as California Secretary of State; James Schwab to Serve as Interim Secretary". Secretary of State of California. January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
2. ^ "Ca - Departments". www.allgov.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
3. ^ "Safe at Home". Secretary of State of California. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
4. ^ "Board of Trustees - California Museum". www.californiamuseum.org. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
5. ^ Library, California State. "California State Library - California State Librarians". www.library.ca.gov. Retrieved February 19, 2017.

## External links

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* Official website
* California Secretary of State foreign qualification

* v
* t
* e

California statewide elected officials

* Governor
* Lieutenant Governor
* Attorney General
* Secretary of State
* Treasurer
* Controller
* Insurance Commissioner
* Superintendent of Public Instruction

* v
* t
* e

Secretaries of state in the United States

▌Wes Allen (R)

▌Nancy Dahlstrom (R)

▌Adrian Fontes (D)

▌Cole Jester (R)

▌Shirley Weber (D)

▌Jena Griswold (D)

▌Stephanie Thomas (D)

▌Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez (D)

▌Cord Byrd (R)

▌Brad Raffensperger (R)

▌Sylvia Luke (D)

▌Phil McGrane (R)

▌Alexi Giannoulias (D)

▌Diego Morales (R)

▌Paul Pate (R)

▌Scott Schwab (R)

▌Michael Adams (R)

▌Nancy Landry (R)

▌Shenna Bellows (D)

▌Susan C. Lee (D)

▌William F. Galvin (D)

▌Jocelyn Benson (D)

▌Steve Simon (DFL)

▌Michael Watson (R)

▌Denny Hoskins (R)

▌Christi Jacobsen (R)

▌Bob Evnen (R)

▌Cisco Aguilar (D)

▌David Scanlan (R)

▌Tahesha Way (D)

▌Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D)

▌Walter T. Mosley (D)

▌Elaine Marshall (D)

▌Michael Howe (R)

▌Frank LaRose (R)

▌Josh Cockroft (R)

▌Tobias Read (D)

▌Al Schmidt (R)

▌Gregg Amore (D)

▌Mark Hammond (R)

▌Monae Johnson (R)

▌Tre Hargett (R)

▌Jane Nelson (R)

▌Deidre Henderson (R)

▌Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D)

▌Kelly Gee (R)

▌Steve Hobbs (D)

▌Kris Warner (R)

▌Sarah Godlewski (D)

▌Chuck Gray (R)

Federal districts:

▌Kimberly A. Bassett (D)

Territories:

▌Pulu Ae Ae Jr. (R)

▌Josh Tenorio (D)

▌David M. Apatang (I)

▌Verónica Ferraiuoli (PNP/D)*

▌Tregenza Roach (D)

Political party affiliations
28 ▌Republican (28 states)
26 ▌Democratic (22 states, 3 territories, 1 district)
1 ▌Independent (1 territory)
1 ▌New Progressive (1 territory)
Italics indicate no secretary of state in this state, closest equivalent listed
An asterisk (*) indicates that the officeholder is serving in an acting capacity.
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*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template