FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2013
CONTACT: Matt Dunlap 626-8400

Secretary of State Matt Dunlap to Travel to Washington, DC for National Association of Secretaries of State Winter Meetings and Overseas Vote Foundation Summit

AUGUSTA, MAINE—Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap travels to Washington, DC this week to meet with colleagues from around the nation to discuss issues ranging from corporate formation and preservation of public records to new developments in election law and how those changes impact military and overseas voters.

On January 24th, Dunlap will attend the Overseas Vote Foundation Summit, where review of the 2012 election and proposals for improvements to help military and overseas voters will be discussed at length. Anticipated in those meetings will be proposals to extend to domestic voters participating in elections by absentee ballot many of the improved processes for voting available to voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act.

For the rest of the week and through the weekend, Dunlap will attend the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) winter meetings. These working meetings will examine a host of issues facing Secretaries of State and Lieutenant Governors across the nation.  Dunlap will attend as a member of the Standing Committees on Business Services, Elections, State Heritage, and Voter Participation. Dunlap also will serve on the Company Formation Task Force and the Task Force on the Future Disposition of US Election Assistance Commission Duties.

This is an important opportunity to engage other state and Federal officials on initiatives and policies that directly impact Maine citizens, said Dunlap These panels do a great deal to shape best practices among the states and to embrace improvements in policies that have shown demonstrated effectiveness in other jurisdictions.

Dunlap will also present a proposal to the Executive Committee to bring the NASS 2015 Summer Conference to Portland, Maine. NASS has had its national conference in Maine before, hosted by former Secretary of State Bill Diamond in 1993 and former Secretary and NASS President, the late Dan A. Gwadosky, in 2003. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase Maine, and the feedback I’ve gotten from other secretaries for years has been ‘when are we coming back to Maine?’ So we’re hoping to give them an answer this time,” he said.

The National Association of Secretaries of State is the nation’s oldest non-partisan professional organization of elected officials. Headquartered in Washington, NASS is a valued resource not only for its members, but is a highly regarded resource for Congress and Federal agencies working to improve many of the laws and programs administered by Secretaries of State. Dunlap, Maine’s 49th Secretary of State, also served as Maine’s 47th Secretary of State, and among other positions, served as President of the association in 2010.
The Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) is a non-partisan, 501 (c) 3 non –profit that advocates for the voting rights of military and overseas Americans. In furtherance of that mission, OVF has developed a series of online tools and services designed to assist Americans abroad in exercising their right to vote. Dunlap was a member of the Board of the Overseas Vote Foundation in 2011 and 2012, while he was out of office.

These organizations offer a great deal of critical information and resources not only to my office, but to every citizen, said Dunlap. I look forward to reacquainting myself with them, and catching up on many of the new developments of the last two years.

For more information on Overseas Vote Foundation: https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/vote/home.htm

For more information on NASS: http://www.nass.org/