| Post: | Secretary of State |
| Body: | California |
| Insignia: | Seal of California.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 120 |
| Insigniacaption: | Great Seal of the State of California |
| Flag: | Flag of California.svg |
| Flagsize: | 135 |
| Flagborder: | yes |
| Flagcaption: | State Flag |
| Incumbent: | Shirley Weber |
| Incumbentsince: | January 29, 2021 |
| Department: | Government of California |
| Style: | The Honorable Madam Secretary |
| Termlength: | Four years, two term limit |
| Salary: | $163,917 |
| Formation: | Constitution of California |
| Inaugural: | William Van Voorhies 1849 |
The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeholder is restricted by term limits to two terms. The current secretary of state is Shirley Weber, who assumed the role in 2021 after Alex Padilla's appointment to the US Senate.[1]
The secretary of state is California's chief elections officer, overseeing all federal and state elections in the state and maintaining a database of registered voters.[2] The officeholder is also responsible for disclosure of campaign and lobbyist financial information, under the California Political Reform Act of 1974.
The Office of the Secretary of State has a number of responsibilities related to corporations; the largest portion office is the Business Programs Division, which handles corporate filings. The Business Entities Section processes, files and maintains records related to corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and other business entities conducting or planning to conduct business in California.
The office also maintains a number of registries, including the Safe at Home confidential address program and the Domestic Partners and Advance Health Care Directive.[3] Other roles of the secretary of state include safeguarding the California State Archives and sitting on the board of trustees of the California Museum, though the officeholder has not been responsible for the California State Library since 1862.[4] [5]
The Secretary of State's Office is divided into six main divisions:
The Secretary of State's Office also works in conjunction with the state Voting Modernization Board.
| Image | Name | Term of office | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1849–1853 | Democratic | |||
| 2 | James W. Denver | 1853–1855 | Democratic | ||
| 3 | Charles H. Hempstead | 1855–1856 | Democratic | ||
| 4 | David F. Douglass | 1856–1858 | American | ||
| 5 | Ferris Foreman | 1858–1860 | Democratic | ||
| 6 | Johnson Price | 1860–1862 | Democratic | ||
| 7 | William H. Weeks | 1862–1863 | Republican | ||
| 8 | A. A. H. Tuttle | 1863 | Republican | ||
| 9 | Benjamin B. Redding | 1863–1867 | Unionist Republican | ||
| 10 | Henry L. Nichols | 1867–1871 | Democratic | ||
| 11 | Drury Melone | 1871–1875 | Republican | ||
| 12 | Thomas Beck | 1875–1880 | Democratic | ||
| 13 | Daniel M. Burns | 1880–1883 | Republican | ||
| 14 | Thomas Larkin Thompson | 1883–1887 | Democratic | ||
| 15 | William C. Hendricks | 1887–1891 | Democratic | ||
| 16 | Edwin G. Waite | 1891–1894 | Republican | ||
| 17 | Albert Hart | 1894–1895 | Republican | ||
| 18 | Lewis H. Brown | 1895–1899 | Republican | ||
| 19 | Charles F. Curry | 1899–1911 | Republican | ||
| 20 | Frank C. Jordan | 1911–1940 | Republican | ||
| 21 | Paul Peek | 1940–1943 | Democratic | ||
| 22 | Frank M. Jordan | 1943–1970 | Republican | ||
| Acting | H. P. Sullivan | 1970–1971 | Republican | ||
| 23 | Jerry Brown | 1971–1975 | Democratic | ||
| 24 | March Fong Eu | 1975–1994 | Democratic | ||
| Acting | Tony Miller | 1994–1995 | Democratic | ||
| 25 | Bill Jones | 1995–2003 | Republican | ||
| 26 | Kevin Shelley | 2003–2005 | Democratic | ||
| 27 | Cathy Mitchell | 2005 | Democratic | ||
| 28 | Bruce McPherson | 2005–2007 | Republican | ||
| 29 | Debra Bowen | 2007–2015 | Democratic | ||
| 30 | Alex Padilla | 2015–2021 | Democratic | ||
| Acting | James Schwab | 2021 | Democratic | ||
| 31 | Shirley Weber | 2021–present | Democratic |