About New Mexico

The Office of the Secretary of State is an elected state office, second in line of succession to the office of Governor after the Lieutenant Governor.  When the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are out of state, the Secretary must fill in for and perform all of the functions of the governor.

The Secretary of State is the keeper of the Great Seal of the State of New Mexico, and affixes the seal to all commissions issued in the name of the Governor.  At the start of each new Legislature in January of each odd-numbered year, the Secretary calls the House of Representatives to order and presides over that body until a new Speaker of the House is elected.

But in addition to these statutory duties, the Secretary of State is responsible for administering an agency with a number of ongoing functions.  Probably the most visible of these is the role as the state’s chief election officer.  The election responsibilities are housed in the Bureau of Elections.  In this role the Secretary oversees the entire election process, which includes maintaining a computerized listing of the state’s registered voters, testing and evaluating voting machines and certifying precinct boundary maps.

With the passage of the 1993 Governmental Ethics Acts, the office assumed the role of state  government ethics regulator.  Besides regulating lobbyist activity, this job oversees the reporting of campaign finances by candidates for public office and political action committees, as well as financial disclosure by candidates and state officials.  In addition, under the Governmental Conduct Act, each elected statewide executive branch public officer and the Legislative Council are required to file a general code of conduct for the employees under their supervision.

The Secretary of State also maintains records vital to commerce and industry in New Mexico.   Trademarks and servicemarks used in New Mexico may be registered in this office.  Under the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and the Agricultural Filings Act, records of loans secured through financial institutions with the use of collateral must be filed with the office.  All persons who wish to serve as notaries public must  apply with the Secretary of State’s office.  In early 1995, on-line access was made available to the UCC filings and the list of registered lobbyists.  The Secretary of State’s on-line service will be expanded to include other election and commercial databases.