DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate was elected treasurer of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) during the organization's summer conference in Indianapolis. The bipartisan organization unanimously backed Pate for the leadership position. Secretary Pate previously served as Midwest Region Vice President for NASS.

"It is an honor to be chosen by my colleagues from around the country for this position," Secretary Pate said. "NASS is committed to ensuring clean and fair elections nationwide, and serving the people as best as we can. Those principles were reaffirmed during the summer conference."

Secretary Pate's term as NASS treasurer begins immediately and lasts for one year.

During the summer conference, NASS unanimously approved a resolution asking the federal government to recognize confidential addresses, like those used in Iowa's Safe at Home program. Safe at Home is an address confidentiality program instituted by Secretary Pate in Iowa for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking and stalking. Participants' physical addresses are shielded from public records, in order to protect them from their abusers.

Iowa is one of 36 states that offers an address confidentiality program. However, federal agencies have been inconsistent in their recognition of designated addresses used by participants of programs like Safe at Home.

The National Association of Secretaries of State calls on the federal government to enact legislation requiring the federal government to accept participants' designated addresses and to abide by state restrictions on the disclosure of participants' private information.

"I plan to lobby Iowa's federal delegation to pass this into law," Secretary Pate said. "Programs like Safe at Home are vital for survivors of violence, and we should ensure all levels of government are recognizing participants' designated address as their legal address. Providing citizens protection from harm is one of government's top priorities and this is one way the federal government can help citizens who have already survived violence."

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