Secretary Of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver

LWV News:

The Los Alamos League of Women Voters monthly event for the community, Lunch with a Leader is noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, July 15 via Zoom.

The speaker is New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver who will discuss how the state is working to increase voter participation (rather than restrict it as many states have done), the recent election, and the changes she has already made to help citizens participate in democracy, and answer audience questions. 

Secretary Toulouse Oliver was first appointed to public office in 2007 when she became County Clerk in New Mexico’s largest county, Bernalillo County. She was elected in 2008, and served 2 1/2 terms as County Clerk until she was elected Secretary of State in 2016. 

The Secretary has made public service the focus of her career. Her work has focused on increasing voter access, running efficient, secure, and fair elections, and bringing more transparency and increased ethical standards to government.

Secretary Toulouse Oliver worked her way through UNM earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Political Science. She worked for U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman in his DC Office and on his re-election campaign in 2000. She also gained activism and organizing experience working with Native American tribes in New Mexico, fighting for reproductive justice, and protecting the Environment as the NM State Director for the League of Conservation Voters.

Since becoming Secretary of State, she has implemented increased transparency rules for financial disclosure and campaign finance reporting, modernized the online campaign finance system, helped craft and pass good government legislation such as same-day voter registration, automated voter registration, and the state’s newly-formed Ethics Commission.

In addition to her elected position, Secretary Toulouse Oliver is president of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), and has previously served NASS as President-Elect, Treasurer, and chair of the elections committee. She serves as a board member of New Mexico’s Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA), the New Mexico Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, and the state Commission on Records and Archives. She is a member of New Mexico’s Complete Count Commission for the 2020 Census, and is a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Fellow. 

Secretary Toulouse Oliver said that she is most proud of being the mother of two sons, Christian and Max.