Op-Ed: Mission Accomplished: WV Secretary of State's Office has regained voter, legislature, and county clerks' confidence

I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure as Secretary of State. I love serving with the office's professional staff, our hard-working county clerks, and our dedicated legislature. It has been the highlight of my career to serve the wonderful people of WV for the last eight years.

Before being elected in 2016, I served five years with the U.S. Department of State in Afghanistan and 23 years in the U.S. Army assigned to military hotspots all over the world. I can assure you, there is no place like home in WV!

At West Point and in the Army, I learned the value of teamwork. When people work together toward a shared vision, they create a symbiotic relationship that produces a sum greater than the individual parts. I ran for Secretary of State in 2016 to bring that style of leadership to the office with a focus on restoring confidence in elections. I built my administration around highly qualified public servants and dedicated staff committed to focus on customer service.

Together, our team achieved tremendous results. We reduced the number of full-time employees and increased pay across the board. That developed accountability, improved efficiency, and increased morale. Managers fostered an environment where every person had value and we valued every opinion. In my administration, we embraced the “S-O-S” acronym with the mantra "See It, Own It, Solve It!" to empower every employee to solve issues individually one business owner, voter, or citizen at a time. That philosophy worked and worked well.

Our work in election integrity brought positive national attention to WV. We worked with our county clerks to implement voter ID, remove more than 400,000 outdated names from our voter registration rolls, register over 340,000 new voters (including 108,000 high school students), and bring state-of-the-art voting equipment to every county.

We implemented "best practices" in election administration and ramped up our Investigations Division by locating investigators around the state and launching the "See Something, Text Something" program that makes every citizen an extension of our office. We upgraded the Campaign Finance Reporting System that now provides better public access and transparency into election spending. And we utilized the Nation's first secure mobile voting application in a federal election that allowed military, first responders, and people with certain disabilities to vote successfully and independently.

On numerous occasions our office was invited to testify before Congress, present at national conferences, and work with other states to provide advice for holding safe, secure, and transparent elections. WV led the effort to get all secretaries of state security clearances, and we set the standard for using state resources such as the National Guard and Fusion Center to help secure our elections.

We pushed back against federal overreach and election interference by Big Tech. We called for the resignation of Blinken and Mayorkas, and to rescind the unconstitutional Executive Order 14019.

The result of our efforts is clear: we restored confidence in WV elections. The 2024 Election featured more candidates than in any previous election and the General Election had the next-highest reported registered-voter participation in the history of our state.

We also enjoyed tremendous success in our Business and Licensing Division (B&L). We made it easier than ever to start or renew a business in WV. We created the One Stop Business Center, the Nation’s first to house four state agencies in one location. We also developed an in-house artificial intelligence program “SOLO”, our Single On-Line Location application provides businesses answers 24-7.

Today, more than 139,000 businesses are registered in WV, and we're adding more than a thousand new businesses every month. Our office has partnered with other agencies to support the WV Businesses Against Trafficking program to help stop Human Trafficking.

We did all this without increasing full-time employee thresholds and funded the additional offerings with voluntary expedited service fees authorized by the legislature.

I am proud of what we have accomplished during my time as Secretary of State and the national recognition our election integrity efforts have brought to WV, and I am humbled by her people for giving me this opportunity to serve.

Finally, I am honored to turn the leadership of the Secretary of State's Office over to my brother, Kris. He, too, has a deep respect for the legislature, county clerks, voters, and love for the State. I am excited to leave him with a tremendous staff of dedicated individuals. Together, I am certain they will continue to do great things for the great state of West Virginia.

My wife Debbie and I send our best to all Mountaineers!

Mac Warner was elected to serve as West Virginia's 30th Secretary of State in 2016. He leaves office on January 13, 2025.​