Secretary of State Project
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|formation = 2006
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Formed in the fall of 2006 by Becky Bond, Michael Kieschnick and James Rucker,[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15105.html "Secretaries of state give Dem firewall"] Politico article, November 2, 2008. the Secretary of State Project was an American non-profit, progressive or liberal 527 political action committee focused on electing reform-minded progressive Secretaries of State in battleground states,[https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-08-16-secretary-state-democrats_x.htm "Top vote counter becomes prize job"] USA Today article, August 17, 2006. who typically oversee the election process. They hoped to prevent a repeat of Florida 2000, where the projects backers claimed that a Republican Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, took a partisan role in helping to determine the 2000 presidential election results. The Project was funded by George Soros and members of the Democracy Alliance including Gail Furman, John R. Hunting; Paul Rudd; Pat Stryker; Nicholas Hanauer; Rob Stein; Drummond Pike; Robert Bowditch; Scott Wallace; Susie Tompkins Buell; Albert Dwoskin; and Rob McKay.{{Cite web|first=Chuck |last=Neubauer |authorlink= |title= Soros and liberal groups seeking top election posts in battleground states |work=Washington Times|date= June 23, 2011 |url= https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/23/section-527-works-to-seat-liberals-as-election-ove/ |accessdate=}}
A notable achievement of the Secretary of State Project was the election of Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie in 2006. Ritchie played a pivotal role in adjudicating the 2008 Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman, by examining disputed absentee ballots during the Minnesota Senate recount.[http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/06/ritchie/ "A recount to make Minnesota proud"] Mark Ritchie's op ed, Minnesota Public Radio, July 7, 2009.
In 2010 during the midterm election GOP wave, the PAC was run by Laura Packard. 2 of 7 candidates were re-elected (California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie). After 2010, the Project had disappeared.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/12/12/amid-voter-id-battle-democrats-launch-pac-for-secretary-of-state-races/ "Amid voter I.D. battle, Democrats launch PAC for Secretary of State races"], Washington Post, Aaron Blake, December 12, 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2014.