What the Secretary of State does
Elections
State law names the Secretary of State the chief election official. The Elections Division keeps statewide election records, maintains Arkansas’s uniform voter registration system, and helps county officials run federal, state, and district elections. The office receives candidate filings and ballot-measure petitions, certifies what goes on the ballot, compiles county returns, and reports results. It also trains on voting equipment and interprets election law for counties. The Secretary of State chairs the State Board of Election Commissioners. County clerks and county boards still run polling places in all 75 counties.
Business & Commercial Services
Business and Commercial Services is the state’s filing office for people who form or operate companies in Arkansas. Filers search a name, file articles for corporations, LLCs, partnerships, and nonprofits, and keep annual reports and franchise tax current. The division records Uniform Commercial Code filings, trademarks and service marks, and other commercial documents. Counter service is in Little Rock’s Victory Building, with a Northwest Arkansas office in Fayetteville.
Notaries & authentications
The office commissions Arkansas notaries, keeps the public notary search, and publishes the notary handbook, exam, and complaint process. An Arkansas notary verifies identity and witnesses oaths, testimony, or signatures on legal documents. The office also commissions eNotaries and remote online notarization, and issues apostilles and authentications so notarized documents can be used abroad.
Initiatives & referenda
When Arkansans use the constitutional initiative or referendum process, this office handles the administrative steps assigned by law: petition forms, filing, signature review, and certification of measures that qualify for the ballot. Popular-name and ballot-title work begins with the Attorney General. Counties still verify many local petitions.
Public records & the official library
The office files and keeps records the public uses every day: the Arkansas Administrative Code and Arkansas Register, journals and acts of the Legislature, city incorporations and annexations, precinct maps, and ethics filings that candidates and officials submit through the state’s ethics process. It also attests official acts and affixes the state seal to commissions. The Arkansas Ethics Commission remains the ethics regulator; this office is the public filing and search desk.
The State Capitol
Capitol Facilities cares for the State Capitol, the Capitol Hill Building, and the grounds. State Capitol Police provide security for the building and police services for the Capitol Complex. Communications and Education run tours, exhibits, voter-outreach materials, and civics programs. The Business Office handles purchasing, mail, insurance on buildings under this office’s care, and the lawful distribution of Arkansas and U.S. flags.
Those are the duties of the office as published by the state. Kelly’s plan for how she would run them is on My Plan.
How to read this section
Two levels: competence before persuasion
Most candidates ask for your vote. Few explain what this office actually does. Start with civic education; go deeper only if you want to.
Level 1
Understanding the Office
What does the Secretary of State actually do? Plain-language overviews for elections, business filings, notaries, public records, and Capitol stewardship—no campaign messaging.
Level 2
Why it matters & what Kelly brings
How each responsibility affects voters, small businesses, and local communities—and only verified credentials on what Kelly brings: career record, civic leadership, and experience you can check.
The Office
What the Secretary of State does—in plain language
Each area starts with the actual job duties, then why it matters and what Kelly brings.
Elections
Chief election official: statewide voter registration, candidate and petition filings, ballot certification, returns, voting-equipment training, and chair of the State Board of Election Commissioners.
Understand the basicsBusiness & Filings
Business and Commercial Services: entity name search, corporations and LLCs, annual reports, franchise tax, UCC, trademarks, and the public business-entity search.
Understand the basicsNotaries
Commissioning notaries and eNotaries, the public notary search, and apostilles so notarized documents can be used in other countries.
Understand the basicsTransparency & Records
Administrative Code and Register, legislative acts, city boundary filings, precinct maps, ethics-filing search, and the state seal on official commissions.
Understand the basicsCapitol & Public Safety
Capitol building and grounds, Capitol Police, public tours and civics programs, and day-to-day operations of the people’s house.
Understand the basics