Secretary of State
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The California Secretary of State oversees everything, running state and federal elections
The California Secretary of State oversees everything from business filings to preserving valuable historical documents; the biggest obligation the California Secretary of State has is running state and federal elections.
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Ballot Brief is a local public television program presented by PBS SoCal
Secretary of State
Clip | 1m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
The California Secretary of State oversees everything from business filings to preserving valuable historical documents; the biggest obligation the California Secretary of State has is running state and federal elections.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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So what does California's Secretary of State actually do?
The answer?
Like a good secretary, a whole lot of stuff including elections which wel get to in a second.
The Secretary of State office handles all the business filings for corporations and businesses.
It certifies notary publics.
You know, those folks who put their official stamp on your on documents.
It manages a bunch of registries like the domestic partners registry.
And did you know the Secretary of State office is the one in charge of preserving valuable historic documents, maps, photographs and the state Constitution.
But the Secretary of State biggest responsibility is running state and federal elections.
Think about it.
It not just about preparing ballots-- in 10 different languages by the way.
They manage the voter registration data base.
All the paperwork from candidates plus their financial disclosure statements which are then made available to the public.
They put out the voter guides, sample ballots, the mail-in ballots.
And on election day, they have to be sure all of the voting machines are secure and working properly.
Then they do the official count and certify the final results.
With about 20 million voters in California and elections every couple years, it no easy task.
So when you vote for a Secretary of State, vote carefully, because you trusting them with the essence of our democracy... free, open and fair elections.
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Ballot Brief is a local public television program presented by PBS SoCal