Debra Bowen

Debra Bowen
California Secretary of State

A pioneer in open government reform, election integrity and personal privacy rights, Debra Bowen, Michigan State, became only the sixth woman in California history elected to a statewide constitutional office when she was elected as Secretary of State in November 2006. As the chief elections officer for the most populated state in the nation, Debra is responsible for overseeing state and federal elections, a role that also requires her to test and certify the voting equipment used in California. Her goal is to ensure that voting machines certified for use in California elections are secure, accurate, reliable and accessible, and that every voter's ballot is counted exactly as it was cast. For her efforts, Debra was recently awarded the prestigious JFK Profile in Courage Award. Beyond her role as the state's chief elections officer, she is also charged with managing a number of other programs for the people of California. Debra is committed to carrying out all of her responsibilities openly in order to build public confidence in democracy. Debra is a longtime advocate of personal privacy and government transparency, and in 1993, she authored the first-in-the-world law that put all of California's legislative information online, giving the public Internet access to information about bills, committee analyses, legislators' voting records and much more. The law has served as a model for other U.S. states and countries. Debra was also the first California lawmaker to voluntarily put her campaign finance reports online in 1995.