In every election, the top-of-the-ballot races get most of the attention.  But in the aftermath of election fiascos in the last two presidential elections, there has been a renewed focus across the country on the “other” elected officials – those charged with carrying out elections and watching over the government’s conduct.

The role of Secretary of State varies from state to state.  In Minnesota, the main responsibility of the Secretary of State is to oversee and ensure fairness and access to elections.  The same is the case for Florida, where Katherine Harris helped push Governor George W. Bush into the White House by purging thousands of “felons” from the state’s voter rolls (many of whom were later shown not to be “felons” but rather “black people”) and Ohio, where Ken Blackwell’s actions on November 2nd, 2004 helped ensure that November 3rd would be a happy day for President Bush.

As a result of these circumstances, organizations like the Secretary of State Project have sprung into existence.  Built and run by progressive bloggers, the organization focuses on supporting and electing Democratic Secretaries of State in places which experienced slim margins in 2004 for either the incumbent Secretary or President Bush, and where there may be questions about voter registration policy, voting equipment, or various other issues connected to election policy.

Are down-ballot races like Secretary of State becoming nationalized as a result of netroots interest?  Perhaps.  SecStateProject has made strong fundraising progress for its nationwide slate of candidates.  In the particular case of Mark Ritchie, the DFL candidate facing incumbent Republican Mary Kiffmeyer, this fundraising does not help as much as it does candidates in other states, because Ritchie has succeeded in meeting aggressive fundraising goals through house parties and other grassroots financial solutions – Minnesota has a relatively low spending limit for this race.

However, although his focus is on Minnesota, Mr. Ritchie is “looking forward to working with Secretaries of State in other states to work together on important issues like increasing voter engagement by young adults and election day registration.”  Although Secretary Kiffmeyer could not be reached for comment, it would be interesting to see if there is a similar focus among conservative advocacy groups on electing Constitutional Officers whose focus on fairness and transparency in government cannot be questioned.