The Secretary of State of Wisconsin is an officer of the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the second in the order of succession of the Governor of Wisconsin, behind the lieutenant governor. The secretary of state is responsible for keeping records of the official acts of the legisative and executive branches of Wisconsin's government and affixing the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin to the official acts of the governor.
As second in the order of succession to Wisconsin's governorship, the secretary of state becomes governor if the governor dies, resigns or is removed from office while the lieutenant governorship is vacant; prior to a 1979 amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution, however, the secretary simply became acting governor if any of these events were to occur. No secretary of state has ever ascended to the governorship or acting-governorship under such circumstances. Both before and after the 1979 amendment, the secretary becomes acting governor while the governor is absent from the state, impeached or incapacitated in the absence of a lieutenant governor. Some secretaries of state have acted as governor for short periods of time under such circumstances.
Under the original terms of the state constitution, the secretary of state was elected for a two-year term on a separate ticket from the governor or any other official. A 1967 amendment increased the term of the secretary of state, as well as those of other state officials, to four years. There is no limit to the number of terms a secretary of state may hold. In the event of the death, resignation or removal from office of the secretary of state, the governor may appoint someone to fill the vacancy.
Twenty-eight individuals have held the office of secretary of state since Wisconsin's admission to the Union in 1848, two of whom—Fred Zimmerman and Douglas La Follette—served for non-consecutive terms. The first secretary of state was Thomas McHugh, who took office on June 7, 1848. The current secretary is Douglas La Follette, who took office on January 3, 1983; his current term expires in 2015.
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If with too credent ear you list his songs,
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)