Les Fugate, Director of Communications    
Office of the Secretary of State   
(502) 564-3490    
les.fugate@ky.gov

Secretary of State Trey Grayson recently attended the National Association of Secretaries of State’s winter conference held in Washington D.C. and was joined by Jonathan Ballard, a McConnell Scholar and Trustees Scholarship winner at the University of Louisville.   This was Grayson’s first meeting with the Association since being elected to the office in November.

The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) is the oldest professional, non-partisan organization of major public officials in the United States, established in 1904. It serves as a medium for exchange of information among the nation's secretaries of state.

“It was an excellent chance to discuss the important election issues facing our country,” Grayson stated.  “We are working together to make sure the integrity of the electoral process is protected.”  He also commented that the conference introduced new ideas about how to expand government services through the internet, something that was a cornerstone of his campaign.

Grayson is a member of the NASS committees on Voter Participation, E-Government, and Elections.

Of particular interest at this year’s conference was the New Millennium Young Voters Summit in which students from across the country came together to discuss student involvement in the election process.  Ballard, Kentucky’s representative, attended numerous roundtable discussions on improving voter turnout and political involvement among young people. 

Ballard, a current intern with Senator Mitch McConnell’s (R-Kentucky) office, was chosen to attend the conference because of his self described “concern for the lack of civic literacy among young adults and [his] desire to participate in the discussion on increasing young voter interest in the political process.”