North Dakota Secretary of State

Last updated
North Dakota Secretary of State
Great Seal of North Dakota.svg
Michael Howe ND Blue Book 2023.png
Incumbent
Michael Howe
since January 2023
Term length 4 years
Formation1889
First holder John Flittie
Website sos.nd.gov OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The North Dakota secretary of state is an elected office in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The incumbent as of 2023 was Michael Howe. Duties of the secretary of state include being the custodian of the state's Great Seal and other official state documents, recording the official acts of the governor, distributing copies of legislative resolutions, and recording original bills and resolutions from each biennial Legislative Assembly. Other duties of the office include those pertaining to statewide elections, licensing within the state, and recording trademarks. The secretary of state is second (behind the lieutenant governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of North Dakota. [1]

Contents

History

From the creation of the office with the state's constitution in 1889, to 2015 there had been 13 secretaries of state, the least number among any of the state offices created in that year. This is attributed to the 34-year tenure of Ben Meier, which as of 2015 was the longest of any state-level secretary of state in the US. As of 2015 the office had been held by the North Dakota Republican Party at all times except the period 1989 to 1992, when the state's Democratic Party was in office. The secretary of state originally served a two-year term, but this was extended to four in 1964 by a constitutional amendment.

List of secretaries of state

The following is a list of secretaries of state of North Dakota. [2]

Secretaries of state by party affiliation
PartySecretaries
Republican 14
Democratic-NPL 1
#ImageNameTermParty
1 John Flittie 18891892 Republican
2 Christian M. Dahl 18931896 Republican
3 Fred Falley, N.D. Secretary of State, 1899 (blended).jpg Fred Falley 18971900 Republican
4 Edward F. Porter 19011906 Republican
5 Alfred Blaisdell 19071910 Republican
6 NORTON, P.C. HONORABLE LCCN2016858485.jpg Patrick D. Norton 19111912 Republican
7 Thomas Hall, R-ND (1869-1958).jpg Thomas Hall 19131924 Republican/NPL
8 Robert Byrne 19251934 Republican
9 James D. Gronna 19351940 Republican/NPL
10 HermanThorson.jpg Herman Thorson 19411942 Republican
11 Thomas Hall, R-ND (1869-1958).jpg Thomas Hall 19431954 Republican
12 Ben Meier 19551988 Republican
13 Jim Kusler 19891992 Democratic-NPL
14 John Hoeven and Al Jaeger (cropped).png Alvin Jaeger 19932023 Republican
15 Michael Howe ND Blue Book 2023.png Michael Howe 2023present Republican

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References

  1. "Constitution of North Dakota" (PDF). North Dakota Legislative Assembly . Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  2. North Dakota Secretary of State | About the Secretary of State