527 'Secretary of State Project' scoring Democratic victories for Secretary of State in key presidential election swing states

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From: Center for Public Integrity

ELECTION ’08: Scoring Secretary of State Seats for Dems
By Sarah Laskow | September 08, 2008, 1:50 pm

Plagued by memories of Florida’s Katherine Harris [2000 presidential election] and Ohio’s Ken Blackwell [2004 presidential election], a little-known 527 group helped win secretary of state posts for Democrats in five swing states during the last election cycle. Now the group has its sights on four more.

The Secretary of State Project, which as a 527 non-profit group can exert influence on elections, raised more than $500,000 in 2006 to ensure no right-leaning secretary of state will swing the 2008 presidential election to the GOP, as they did in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. So far the group has scored victories in Nevada, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, and Ohio.

The SoS Project organizers formed the group “to protect our elections from dirty Republican tricks,” according to the group’s website. In many states, secretaries of state oversee voter registration, election rules, voting machines, and recounts. Positioning allies in these slots became a key strategy and a natural starting point.

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