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Secretary of State Beth Chapman Announces Reelection Bid |
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Today on her forty-seventh birthday, Secretary of State Beth Chapman announced her intention to seek reelection in 2010. Chapman was elected Alabama’s fifty-first Secretary of State in 2006 after being elected and serving a four year term as State Auditor. During her two years as Secretary of State, Chapman has achieved numerous historic accomplishments. She established the first Voter Fraud Task Force as a division of the office, and oversaw the largest election in Alabama’s history which was labeled, as “virtually flawless,” despite having to overcome the negative effects of a Federal lawsuit she inherited from her predecessor. Voter registration numbers surpassed three million and we had 200,000 more voters participate in the Presidential Election, which was the highest number of voters in the history of our state. Chapman has brought the Secretary of State’s Office into the 21st Century using technology to provide a more efficient and effective user-friendly website viewed by thousands of businesses daily. She and her staff have implemented other improvements at no additional cost to state taxpayers. UCC financing statements and amendments which were once an antiquated issue of grave concern for Alabama businesses were greatly improved and operating online for the first time in history in less than one year of Chapman’s taking office. Chapman created an agricultural and business task force to advise and assist with creating online and real time UCC filings. Chapman and her staff also instituted online documents for viewing and are continuing their efforts to bring greater technology to the businesses of Alabama. Chapman has streamlined the UCC and Corporate Division into one Business Division in the Secretary of State’s Office under the leadership of one experienced manager, which has created better overall customer service. Chapman has been a state and national advocate for a more efficient way for members of the military to vote via electronic voting. She chaired Alabama’s Military and Overseas Voting Task Force and is considered within her field as an expert on the subject. She is the recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Distinguished Public Leadership Award. Chapman was selected by her peers at the National Association of Secretaries of State to address Congress on the need for improved military voting. She also appeared on the National Armed Forces network and the Pentagon Broadcast to advance these efforts. Under her leadership, Alabama became the first of only three states to join the Overseas Vote Foundation in providing online voter registration assistance for military and overseas voters. She and her staff also organized an Inaugural Military and Overseas Voting Summit held in Montgomery and attended by representatives from the Pentagon, Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Overseas Vote Foundation, and state and local elections officials. “Serving as Alabama’s Secretary of State has been a tremendous honor for me,” Chapman said. “My staff and I will continue our efforts to stop voter fraud, provide fair and honest elections, computerize Alabama’s business filings and simplify the military’s right to vote.” There are literally one thousand duties of the office of Secretary of State. Chapman serves as a member of the National Association of Secretaries of State as the co-chairman of their International Relations Committee, was elected an Executive Board Member of the Standards Board of the United States Election Assistance Commission and the PEW Charitable Trust Military Voting Alliance. More information on Chapman’s campaign will be available at www.bethchapman.com.
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