PROVIDENCE – Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis’ new position as Eastern region vice president of the National Association of Secretaries of State “gives Rhode Island a national voice on election reform and the presidential primary, among other issues,” he said in a statement.
The group’s Eastern region includes the New England states, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Puerto Rico.
His election to the regional post also makes Mollis a member of the NASS executive board. The 11-member board – whose members were inducted last month for a one-year term – will oversee the association’s activities for the coming year, including its direction on election administration, business services, electronic government and state-federal relations, the NASS said in a statement.
“Mollis has demonstrated real leadership in the area of election reform with his Voters First initiative,” new NASS President Todd Rakita, the secretary of state for Indiana, said in a statement. “I am looking forward to working with him in the coming year.”
Reaching out to companies that do business in Rhode Island also is one of his major goals, Mollis said.
“As secretary of state, I am focused on making it easier for Rhode Islanders to vote, making government more open and accessible and helping businesses grow,” he said. “Serving on this national board will give Rhode Island access to the most successful programs from across the nation.”
He added: “I look forward to playing an active role in having our state influence national policies that affect how Americans govern themselves.”
For more information, visit the Web site of the R.I. Secretary of State’s Office at www.sec.state.ri.us.
The National Association of Secretaries of State, founded in 1904, is the oldest nonpartisan professional associations of public officials in the United States. Besides the 50 states, its membership includes officials from the District of Columbia and the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. To learn more, visit www.nass.org.
