May 27, 2015, WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote) is pleased to announce that Mark Ritchie, former Secretary of State for the state of Minnesota, has joined the organization’s Executive Board. US Vote is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)3 organization, which develops and provides domestic, overseas and military voters with public access to innovative voter information, registration and vote-by-mail ballot request services.
“I have long been aware of the voting challenges that face our men and women in uniform and all US citizens living and working overseas. As Secretary, with the help of US Vote’s Overseas Vote initiative, I was able to address many of the barriers with dramatic results. I am very proud of the recognition that Minnesota received for our great strides in addressing one of the most serious challenges facing U.S. voters,” said Ritchie.
“My first priority as a member of the US Vote Executive Board will be to make sure that US Vote has the resources it needs to support their development vision and their mission to make it easy for every citizen to be an active voter,” added Ritchie. As Secretary of State, Ritchie was a strong advocate for overseas and military voters. With Minnesota’s support through a Federal Voting Assistance Program grant, Overseas Vote developed an advanced online, interactive version of the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, which could offer voters the possibility to vote on all levels of races and ballot initiatives. During his two-term tenure, he served as President of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
In addition to his role as a board member of the foundation, Ritchie is President and CEO of the Minnesota World’s Fair Bid Committee, working to bring the 2023 World’s Fair to Minnesota under the theme of “Healthy People, Healthy Planet.” He is also the Senior Fellow, Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems at the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. Ritchie is a Life Member of the Association for the US Army and sits on the Minnesota National Guard Strategic Advisory Task Force.