NASS 2023 Summer Conference Highlights

For Immediate Release
July 18, 2023

Washington, D.C. — 38 Secretaries of State, one Lt. Governor, senior staff members, as well as nonprofit and private sector representatives met for the 106th annual summer meeting of the Na­tional Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). The conference was held in Washington, D.C., July 9-12. Many productive discussions took place on important issues including election admin­istration, cybersecurity, business services, international relations and more.

On July 12, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab was sworn in as the association’s President, along with his new Executive Board. View the NASS 2023-2024 leadership release here.

Also, NASS Committee Co-Chair appointments have been announced. The release can be found here.

Conference Highlights

Speakers- Conference presenters represented various organizations, including: the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Project Interchange, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), and more.

Additionally, approximately 19 states shared presentations on their state practices and programs. See the agenda here for links to many of those helpful presentations.

National Awards:

During the July 11 luncheon, the Office of the Mississippi Secretary of State received the 2023 NASS IDEAS Award, which recognizes innovation and excellence in state programming for their Tackle the Tape initiative. View the NASS release here.

On July 12, NASS announced it will posthumously award the 2023 Margaret Chase Smith Ameri­can Democracy Award for political courage to Laura Wooten for her dedication as the longest serving poll worker in American history with 79 straight years of service. Wooten was nominated by the Office of the New Jersey Secretary of State. The award will be presented to her family at the NASS 2024 Winter Conference in Washington, D.C.

Lastly, the Notary Public Administrators (NPA) staff section of NASS bestowed their award, which recognizes those who have contributed to the betterment of NPA and the entire notary industry, on North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall and former North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger. NPA has named the award in their honor as the “Jaeger-Marshall NPA Achievement Award” for future recipients.

Resolutions: The following NASS policy resolutions were approved by member vote July 12:
*NASS Resolution Urging the National Political Parties to Set Early Nominating Convention Dates
*NASS Support for the Revised National Electronic Notarization Standards and Remote Online Notarization Standards
*NASS Resolution for the Adoption of National Apostille Issuance Guidelines

Corporate Affiliate Issue Papers: Each year, NASS corporate affiliates submit issue papers showcasing their capabilities. This summer's submissions include:
*Center for Internet Security: RABET-V: From Pilot to Program
*Civix: The Untapped Power of Technology in Voter Engagement
*Clear Ballot: Accessibility as a Focus, Not a Feature
*CT Corporation: What is a Holding Company Structure and Why is it so Popular?
*Democracy Live: The Importance of Former Election Officials Serving in Leadership Roles with Private Sector Election Technology Providers
*Fort Orange Press: 2022 Election Recap: Election Officials Leverage Lessons Learned and Prepare for a Successful 2024 Election Year
*Incode: Know Your Voter: Transforming the Public Sector with Biometrics
*Ingalls Information Security: Cybersecurity Considerations for Generative AI
*Notarize: The Human Element: The Role of Notaries in the Evolving Digital Identity Landscape
*Remark Innovations: Voting Systems as Mission Critical Systems
*Soch: A Complete Approach to Understanding Election Security and Integrity
*Tyler Technologies: Changing Resident and Business Engagement: The Case for Centralized Digital Identities
*Voatz: Take Me Out to the Blockchain

Announcements: For the NASS 2025 Summer Conference the membership selected Biloxi, Mis­sissippi. Read the Mississippi Secretary of State’s press release on the announcement here. Fu­ture NASS conference dates and details as they become available are featured on our event page.

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Media Contact:
Maria Benson, Director of Communications
mbenson@sso.org | 202-624-3528 | www.nass.org