DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate was named President-Elect of the National Association of Secretaries of State on Monday. The bipartisan organization unanimously backed Pate for the prestigious position during their annual summer conference, held this year in Philadelphia. Pate's election puts him in line to become President of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) in 2019.
"I am honored to be chosen by my colleagues from around the country for this important leadership role," Secretary Pate said. "The ideals of this organization are ones that I share and strive for every day. We want to conduct clean and fair elections, and to offer service at the speed of business, not the speed of government. I will continue do my best to promote that mission as NASS' President-Elect."
Additionally, the Office of Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is the recipient of the Election Center's 2018 Professional Practice State Award for his office's training materials for poll workers. The award was presented to Secretary Pate and his staff during the National Association of State Election Directors' (NASED) summer conference in Philadelphia.
The "Storyboard Training for Poll Workers" paper prepared by Secretary Pate's office provides step-by-step instructions for poll workers regarding the various scenarios for implementing Iowa's new voter ID requirements. The materials were submitted to all 99 county auditors in the state and distributed to poll workers
"Our annual Professional Practices Paper contest is an opportunity for state and local election officials to showcase their best practices, be recognized nationally for their innovations, and have their papers posted on the Election Center website so they can be shared with election officials from all over the country. Congratulations to the Office of Iowa Secretary of State Paul D. Pate for their well-deserved State award," said Tim Mattice, executive director of the Election Center.
A panel of three NASED state directors selected Secretary Pate's submission as the winner.
"I'm very honored to receive this prestigious award and have our efforts for poll worker training recognized by election officials across the country," Secretary Pate said. "A huge thank you goes to my elections team, and in particularly Deputy Commissioner of Elections Ken Kline, who took the lead in preparing these materials. Our poll workers are on the front line in the voting process and we will continue to work with them to make sure everyone is voter ready for the November election.".
The Election Center created the Professional Practices Program in 1996 to provide a forum in which election officials could share their successful practices with other jurisdictions. Each year, the program recognizes outstanding efforts by election officials.
A picture of the award presentation is available at this link. Pictured are Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, Robert F. Giles of the Election Center, Iowa Director of Elections Dawn Williams and Iowa Deputy Commissioner of Elections Ken Kline.
A picture of the NASS Executive board is available at this link. Secretary Pate is in the front row, second from the right.
