What the heck does the Secretary of State in Wyoming do anyhow?
The entire Buchanan/Nethercott/Gray saga certainly has put it in focus.
For those lucky sheepherders just dropping down into the Virginian for an Ortega Burger after months out on the range, we'll give a recap.
Ed Buchanan, who first made his appearance in the statewide news as a former Air Force officer, now lawyer, living in Torrington, in a run for Governor that went nowhere, later ran for Secretary of State, and won it.
He's been a good one.
But apparently he wanted to be a judge. I don't blame him. That was a career aspiration of mine at one time, too. While Secretary of State, he started putting in for judgeships, and put in for at least one prior to the one he got. He failed to get appointed on at least one occasion, but made the three finalists.
Not getting the position, he announced he was running for Secretary of State for a second term. Then the position in Torrington/Lusk/Wheatland came up. This time he dropped out of the race and announced publicly that he was tossing his hat in the ring for that judgship, in his hometown. As soon as he did that, a two Wyoming Senators announced they were running for the position, as did Wyoming House member and election denier Chuck Gray.
That put, quite frankly, the Governor in a bad spot in regard to Buchanan. Passing on him again would be problematic.
Anyhow, Buchanan's public announcement of putting in and dropping out of the race was masterful, if problematic.
And on a personal level, maybe it was really admirable. I'm told that Buchanan is from a long time farm family in that region and basically wanted to go home. The job that he really wanted, in his hometown, opened up. Maybe he had to go for it. And certainly, if he had to go for it, he had to declare that he was dropping out of the race.
Or maybe not.
He was elected to that office by the voters of the state, and he had announced his candidacy for retention. Nobody was taking him on, which means that nobody else who may have been qualified, but unknown, had a chance to develop a campaign. And in a year when people like Chuck Gray have run around telling lies about the election, he was a voice of assurance that the state's elections had gone well and were going well. By dropping out on the eve of the election, it means that a temp has to be found to fill in, and election deniers like Gray will undoubtedly have a voice if they don't like the election.
Indeed, because he dropped out, the only candidates who could mount a campaign were two who were already known. Nethercott was a good candidate, and was already known because she'd been slandered as a c*** by a county party member somewhere. Right wing Republicans didn't like her. Gray was known as he's made a general spectacle of himself as a right wing gadfly for several years, and he'd flamed out in a family funded run for Congress which went nowhere.
He's also, frankly, has his eyes on higher office. Buchanan's withdrawal from the race, and the abandonment of his duties, was a gift to Gray. Having said that, he obviously has a lot of followers, and he's politically savvy. If it was revealed tomorrow that Donald Trump was Vlad Putin's spy who had sold the country down the river so many times even Frank Eathorne had to admit it, all while in the hands of the mafia, and a member of the Illuminati, or whatever else you can think of, it wouldn't surprise me to find that within a week Gray had credibly passed himself off as somebody who never liked him, and that he was a Biden supporter all along.
In this context, it's not too surprising that the State's GOP asked Buchanan to stay on. In spite of adopting the Big Lie, there's probably a fair number of committee people who don't believe it and see Buchanan's resignation much like passengers in a plane see the pilot when he's exiting the cabin wearing a parachute. Moreover, even if they do believe it, they're heading into an election, in spite of the way it may seem, in which a fair number of old GOP reliables no longer are. In other words, this election is set up to be questioned.
Oh oh.
Buchanan says not to worry, as his staff is so competent. And it probably really is. The staff likely does all the heavy lifting of the office, but there are rumors that the office is looking at widespread resignations, and one senior figure has already beat Buchanan out of the fuselage. Having said that, these kinds of rumors are really common for hotly contested elections and rarely do they actually pan out.
So, with all of that, Wyomingites are now very aware that the Secretary of State's office certifies elections.
What else does he do?
Well, basically the same thing County Clerks do, but at a higher level.
The Secretary of State's office summarizes it in this way:
The Wyoming Secretary of State is elected to a four-year term and oversees the administration of numerous matters including the following: the registration of business entities; statewide elections; lobbyist registrations and filings; ethics filings; campaign finance; securities; notaries public; registered agents; trade names; trademarks; document authentication; and agricultural liens, among others.
More specifically:
Constitutional Duties
The Wyoming Secretary of State is a Wyoming constitutional elected official holding office for a term of four years as per Article 4, Section 11 of the Wyoming Constitution.
The Secretary of State serves on the State Board of Land Commissioners, the State Building Commission, the State Loan and Investment Board, and also serves as the chair of the State Canvassing Board.
The Secretary of State is the custodian of the "Great Seal of the State of Wyoming."
Statutory Responsibilities
The Secretary of State and his staff are charged with many statutory responsibilities some of which include the following:
- Registering all statutorily authorized business entities including profit and nonprofit corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, registered limited liability partnerships and statutory trusts;
- Registering trade names, trademarks, and reserved names;
- Recording Uniform Commercial Code and Effective Financing statements and documents;
- Overseeing all statewide elections, as well as bond, municipal, and special elections;
- Certifying all statewide candidates and ballot questions, and reports and certifies primary and general election results;
- Commissioning of Wyoming's Notaries Public;
- Certifying and authenticating documents for use overseas;
- Recording state agencies' rules;
- Regulating the state's securities industry and enforcing securities law;
- Maintaining the records and proceedings of Wyoming's legislature;
- Attesting to various official acts and proceedings of the Governor; and
- Affixing the Great Seal of the State of Wyoming as delineated by law.
Office Structure
The Secretary of State's Office is organized into five divisions: Administration Division, Business Division, Compliance Division, Election Division, and the Executive Offices.
Administration Division
The Administration Division provides information technology resources and support to the Office as well manages the fiscal and personnel responsibilities of the Office. The Division files Administrative Rules for state agencies and, in cooperation with the University of Wyoming Trademark Licensing Office, administers the use and protection of Wyoming's iconic Bucking Horse and Rider trademark. In addition to these functions, the Division provides project management and oversight services for the building, updating, and maintaining of the Office's many software applications including business registration and reporting, UCC/EFS lien filing, securities, elections, statewide voter registration, campaign finance, notaries public, state rules program, Office websites, receipting, and lobbyists.
Business Division
The Business Division administers Wyoming Statutes pertaining to the registration of corporations and 12 other business entities, trademarks, trade names, Uniform Commercial Code liens and searching, and Effective Financing Statement filings and searches.
Compliance Division
The Compliance Division oversees Wyoming's securities industry as well as the activities of Commercial Registered Agents. This Division is responsible for registering securities (investments) offered or sold in Wyoming along with registering and overseeing the firms and individuals working for those firms that sell securities. In addition to its regulatory function, the Division has authority to investigate violations of the Securities Act and the Registered Agent Act. To further protect Wyomingites, this Division has enforcement authority to file administrative actions and to refer criminal matters to local, state or federal authorities for violations of securities laws. The Division is also responsible for providing investor protection education to the public, commissioning notaries public, and issuing apostilles and certification documents which authenticate signatures of state officials.
Election Division
The Election Division ensures uniformity in the application and operations of Wyoming's elections. The Division assists with general, primary, bond, municipal and special district elections; files campaign finance disclosure reports; verifies petitions for independent candidates, initiatives, referendums and new political parties; answers questions pertaining to elections; generates voter registration lists; processes candidate applications; produces elections publications; and registers lobbyists and retains lobbyist disclosure reports.
Executive Offices
The Executive Offices Division provides the leadership and direction to the Office as a whole. The Division includes the Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of State, the Public Information and Communications Officer as well as the Executive Assistants to the Secretary and Deputy.
1 Amos W. Barber. 1890–1895 Republican2 Charles W. Burdick. 1895–1899 Republican3 Fenimore Chatterton. 1899–1907 Republican4 William Schnitger. 1907–1911 Republican5 Frank L. Houx. 1911–1919 Democrat6 William E. Chaplin. 1919–1923 Republican7 Frank Lucas. 1923–1927 Republican8 Alonzo M. Clark. 1927–1935 Republican9 Lester C. Hunt. 1935–1943 Democrat10 Mart T. Christensen. 1943–1944 Republican11 William M. Jack. 1944–1947 Democrat12 Arthur G. Crane. 1947–1951 Republican13 C.J. "Doc" Rogers. 1951–1955 Republican14 Everett T. Copenhaver. 1955–1959 Republican15 Jack R. Gage. 1959–1963 Democrat16 Thyra Thomson. 1963–1987 Republican17 Kathy Karpan. 1987–1995 Democrat18 Diana J. Ohman. 1995–1999 Republican19 Joseph Meyer. 1999–2007 Republican20 Max Maxfield. 2007–2015 Republican21 Ed Murray. 2015–2018 Republican22.Karen Wheeler. 2018 Republican23 Edward Buchanan Republican
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