Leigh M. Chapman
{{Short description|American politician, attorney and activist}}
{{Distinguish|Leigh Chapman}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Leigh M. Chapman
| image = Gov. Wolf Expands Voter Registration Access for Eligible Pennsylvanians (52342202250) (cropped).jpg
| office = Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania
| governor = Tom Wolf
| term_start = {{start date|2022|1|8}}
| term_end = {{end date|2023|1|17}}
| predecessor = Veronica Degraffenreid (Acting)
| successor = Al Schmidt
| birth_date = {{circa|1984}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party =
| education = University of Virginia (B.A.)
Howard University (J.D.)
| caption = Chapman in 2022
}}
Leigh M. Chapman (born {{circa|1984}}) is an American voting rights activist and former government official who served as acting secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 2022 to 2023.
Career
Chapman has a bachelor of arts degree in American studies and history from the University of Virginia and a juris doctor degree from the Howard University School of Law, where she was a member of the Human Rights & Globalization Law Review and the Civil Rights Clinic.{{cite web |title=Leigh M. Chapman |url=https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO02/20190501/109375/HHRG-116-GO02-Bio-ChapmanL-20190501.pdf |website=United States House of Representatives |access-date=2 February 2024}}
Chapman has held high-ranking positions within several voting rights and voter advocacy organizations, including Let America Vote and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.{{cite news |title=New Pa. Secretary of State appointed, will oversee elections starting in January |url=https://www.northcentralpa.com/news/new-pa-secretary-of-state-appointed-will-oversee-elections-starting-in-january/article_03c8a29a-6747-11ec-b157-6b1d1d6b5bbf.html |access-date=1 February 2024 |work=NorthcentralPA.com |date=December 29, 2021}}{{cite news |url-access=subscription |last1=Walsh |first1=Sean Collins |title=Gov. Tom Wolf will appoint mail voting advocate Leigh M. Chapman to be Pa.'s new top elections official |url=https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-gov-tom-wolf-secretary-leigh-chapman-2022-elections-20211227.html |access-date=1 February 2024 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=December 27, 2021}} She has advocated for same-day voter registration, early voting, automatic voter registration, and no-excuse absentee voting.{{cite web |last1=Chapman |first1=Leigh |title=The Untold Voting Rights Story From The PA-18 Special Election |url=https://letamericavote.wpengine.com/news/blog/2018/untold-voting-rights-story-pa-18-special-election/ |website=Let America Vote |date=15 March 2018 |access-date=1 February 2024}} From 2015 to 2017, Chapman served as policy director for the Pennsylvania Department of State, overseeing the implementation of electronic voter registration in the state. In December 2021, Chapman was chosen by Governor Tom Wolf to serve as the acting secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, following the reassignment of Acting Secretary Veronica Degraffenreid. At the time, Chapman was executive director of Deliver My Vote, a mail-in voting advocacy group. She took office on January 8, 2022. Chapman was the fifth person to hold the office of secretary of the commonwealth under Governor Wolf. Her appointment came at a time when her predecessors were targeted by members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly pushing false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 United States presidential election.{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Jan |title=Gov. Tom Wolf names acting secretary of the commonwealth |url=https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/12/gov-tom-wolf-to-name-leigh-m-chapman-as-acting-secretary-of-the-commonwealth.html |access-date=1 February 2024 |work=PennLIVE Patriot-News |publisher=Advance Local Media LLC |date=December 27, 2021}} Chapman faced similar attacks following the 2022 midterm elections after she announced it would be "days" before the final vote count would be released due to the large volume of ballots cast by different methods.{{cite news |last1=Chapman |first1=Leigh M. |title=This is why we won't have results on Election Night {{!}} Leigh M. Chapman |url=https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/this-is-why-we-wont-have-results-on-election-night-leigh-m-chapman/ |access-date=2 February 2024 |work=Pennsylvania Capital-Star |date=October 30, 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Dale |first1=Daniel |title=Trump and other Republicans are already casting doubt on midterm results |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/06/politics/trump-midterms-casting-doubt-pennsylvania/index.html |access-date=2 February 2024 |work=CNN |date=November 7, 2022}} After the conclusion of the Wolf administration, Chapman joined Open Society Foundations.{{cite web |title=Open Society Foundations Names Leigh Chapman as New Director for Democracy-Building Work in U.S. |url=https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/newsroom/open-society-foundations-names-leigh-chapman-as-new-director-for-democracy-building-work-in-u-s |website=Open Society Foundations |date=March 22, 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Veronica Degraffenreid
{{small|Acting}}}}
{{s-ttl|title=Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
{{small|Acting}}|years=2022–2023}}
{{s-aft|after=Al Schmidt}}
{{s-end}}
{{Wolf cabinet}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Leigh M.}}
Category:Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania