The Louisiana Secretary of State is a statewide elective office that oversees elections, business registrations, notary commissions, and historical records, among other duties. The Secretary of State is the starting point for new businesses and critical to ensuring that Louisiana’s elections are protected.
Gwen Collins-Greenup
Gwen Collins-Greenup, an attorney, accountant, and minister, is running to become the next Secretary of State because she wants to ensure that Louisiana’s elections are secure, protect voting rights, increase access to the polls and support small business development.
Collins-Greenup says she has advocated for voting rights, entrepreneurship, and effective government throughout her 20-year career. As deputy clerk of court at East Feliciana Parish Clerk of Court, she was the first official to put a Division of Motor Vehicles inside of the courts to make services, including voter registration, more convenient and accessible to the public.
If elected, Collins-Greenup’s top priorities include a plan to increase voter participation. Although Louisiana has almost three million registered voters, low voter turnout rates suggest that about 450,000 people are making decisions for 4.6 million Louisianans. Collins-Greenup’s plan to increase voter participation include statewide voter education events, on-site voter registration, community outreach, social media campaigns, and partnerships with non-profits that work on voter registration issues.
As Secretary of State, Collins-Greenup will put evidence-based cyber-security systems in place to protect the voting process from cyber attacks , purchase new voting machines with paper ballots, and provide uniform election training in each parish. She will also conduct post-election audits to ensure that votes are accurately counted.
As SOS, Collins-Greenup will support small businesses and entrepreneurs by providing resources to empower people, including the next generation, to start businesses and stay compliant, because small businesses provide the jobs that fuel the economy, the paychecks that feed families, the tax dollars that fund schools, and the resources needed to thrive. She would streamline the current process to make it easier to start small businesses. She vows to be a visible SOS, who reaches out to diverse communities.
Collins-Greenup was a legal secretary for the Louisiana Department of Labor, deputy clerk of court at East Feliciana Parish Clerk of Court and director at Baton Rouge City Court. As an entrepreneur, Collins-Greenup’s services include management and tax consultation, notary public, title insurance agent, and real estate title abstractor.
She earned bachelor’s and master’s degree sin accounting from Liberty University, a master’s degree of divinity from Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary, and her law degree from Southern University Law Center. She also did post-doctoral studies at Villanova University School of Law to gain expertise in tax law.
