# Secretary of State of Maine

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The **secretary of state of Maine** is a [constitutional officer](/source/State_constitutional_officer) in the [U.S. state](/source/U.S._state) of [Maine](/source/Maine) and serves as the head of the Maine Department of State. The secretary of state performs duties of both a legislative branch as well as an executive branch officer. The role oversees areas that include motor vehicle licensing, state identification, record keeping, and corporate chartering.[1]

The secretary of state is elected biannually by ballot of members of both houses of the [Maine Legislature](/source/Maine_Legislature) assembled together,[1] identical in procedure to its neighbor, [New Hampshire](/source/New_Hampshire_Secretary_of_State).[2] The position is elected at the start of the first session of the [Maine Legislature](/source/Maine_Legislature), which also sits for a two-year term, concurrent with the other constitutional officers of Maine.[1]

The incumbent secretary of state is [Shenna Bellows](/source/Shenna_Bellows), who took office on January 4, 2021.[3][4]

## Duties

The secretary of state oversees three distinct areas within their department. These coincide with the three bureaus under their aegis: the Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions, Maine State Archives and Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles.[5][6]

### Corporations, elections, and commissions

The secretary of state has oversight over the [conduct of elections](/source/Election_law), petition filing, and state-wide [ballot initiatives](/source/Popular_initiative). They are responsible for applying campaign conduct law against [candidates](/source/Candidate) for office. The secretary reviews [petitions](/source/Petition) to verify authenticity of signatures for ballot initiatives under the Maine Constitution.

The secretary of state also oversees and applies the state's [corporation law](/source/Corporate_law). Corporations seeking to be chartered in Maine do so through the secretary's office. The secretary has oversight over Maine's [commercial law](/source/Commercial_law) and application of the [Uniform Commercial Code](/source/Uniform_Commercial_Code).

The secretary's office appoints and regulates the state's [notaries public.](/source/Notary_public)[7][1]

### State archives

The secretary maintains laws passed in the state and all records of the [legislature](/source/Maine_Legislature), state agencies, election returns, vital statistics, county court rulings, and [Supreme Judicial Court](/source/Maine_Supreme_Judicial_Court) rulings and proceedings.[7]

### Motor vehicles

The secretary oversees the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles and is thus responsible for overseeing identification, motor vehicle registration, vehicle inspections, and other forms of licensing.[8]

## List of secretaries of state

The following officials have served as secretary of state of Maine:[9][10]

Tenure Image Secretary of State Hometown Party Notes 1820–1821 Ashur Ware Portland Democratic-Republican 1822–1828 Amos Nichols Augusta Democratic-Republican 1829–1830 Edward Russell North Yarmouth National Republican 1831–1834 Roscoe Greene Portland Democratic 1835–1837 Asaph Nichols Augusta Democratic 1838 Samuel P. Benson Winthrop Whig 1839 Asaph Nichols Augusta Democratic 1840 Philip C. Johnson Augusta Democratic 1841 Samuel P. Benson Winthrop Democratic 1842–1844 Philip C. Johnson Augusta Democratic 1845 William B. Hartwell Augusta Democratic 1846–1849 Ezra B. French Damariscotta Democratic 1850–1853 John G. Sawyer Augusta Democratic 1854–1855 Alden Jackson Augusta Whig 1856 Caleb Ayer Cornish Democratic 1857 Alden Jackson Augusta Democratic 1858–1860 Noah Smith, Jr. Calais Republican 1861–1863 Joseph B. Hall Presque Isle Republican 1864–1867 Ephraim Flint, Jr. Dover Republican 1868–1871 Franklin M. Drew Brunswick Republican 1872–1874 George G. Stacy Richmond Republican Resigned 1875 Sidney Perham Paris, Maine Republican Previously served as governor. 1876–1878 S. J. Chadbourne Dixmont Democratic 1879 Edward H. Gove Biddeford Greenback 1880 S. J. Chadbourne Augusta Republican 1881–1884 Joseph O. Smith Augusta Republican 1885–1890 Ormandel Smith Litchfield Republican 1891–1896 Nicholas Fessenden Fort Fairfield Republican 1897–1906 Byron Boyd Augusta Republican 1907–1910 Arthur I. Brown Belfast Republican 1911–1912 Cyrus W. Davis Waterville Democrat 1913–1914 Joseph E. Alexander Richmond Republican 1915–1916 John E. Bunker Eden Democrat 1917–1926 Frank W. Ball Dover Republican 1927–1932 Edgar C. Smith Augusta Republican 1933–1934 Robinson C. Tobey Augusta Republican 1935–1936 Lewis O. Barrows Newport Republican 1937–1941 Frederick Robie Gorham Republican 1942–1960 Harold I. Goss Gardiner Republican Longest-serving Maine Secretary of State 1961–1964 Paul A. MacDonald Coopers Mills Republican 1965–1966 Kenneth M. Curtis Cape Elizabeth Democratic 1967–1974 Joseph T. Edgar Farmingdale Republican 1975–1978 Markham L. Gartley Greenville Democratic Ran unsuccessfully for Congress against Olympia Snowe in 1978. 1979–1988 Rodney S. Quinn Augusta Democratic 1989–1996 William Diamond Windham Democratic 1997–2004 Dan Gwadosky Fairfield Democratic 2005–2010 Matthew Dunlap Old Town Democratic 2011–2012 Charlie Summers Scarborough Republican 2013–2021 Matthew Dunlap Old Town Democratic 2021–present Shenna Bellows Manchester Democratic Incumbent, First woman to serve as Secretary of State

## See also

- [List of company registers](/source/List_of_company_registers)

## References

1. ["Maine State Constitution"](https://www.maine.gov/legis/const/#a5). *www.maine.gov*. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

1. ["State Constitution - Secretary, Treasurer, Etc. | NH.gov"](https://www.nh.gov/glance/secretary.htm). *www.nh.gov*. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

1. ["Shenna Bellows makes history as Maine's first woman Secretary of State"](https://www.wmtw.com/article/shenna-bellows-to-make-history-as-maines-secretary-of-state/35116521). 2021-01-04.

1. ["Maine Secretaries of State, 1820 - | Maine State Legislature"](https://legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/maine-secretaries-of-state-1820/9252/). *legislature.maine.gov*. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

1. ["Maine Secretary of State"](https://ballotpedia.org/Maine_Secretary_of_State). *Ballotpedia*. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

1. ["Maine Department of the Secretary of State"](https://www.maine.gov/sos/). *www.maine.gov*. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

1. ["Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200417111725/https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/index.html). *www.maine.gov*. Archived from [the original](https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/index.html) on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

1. ["Bureau of Motor Vehicles"](https://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/). *www.maine.gov*. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

1. ["Maine Secretaries of State, 1820 - | Maine State Legislature"](https://legislature.maine.gov/lawlibrary/maine-secretaries-of-state-1820/9252/). *legislature.maine.gov*. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

1. [*Maine Register, State Year-book and Legislative Manual*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Te9BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA132). Tower Publishing Company. 1918.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Secretary of State of Maine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_of_Maine) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_of_Maine?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.