For Immediate Release

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Columbus - Surrounded by family, friends, supporters and fellow elected officials, and standing in the Ohio House of Representatives Chamber where he once served as Speaker of the Ohio House, Jon Husted was sworn in as Ohio's 53^rd Secretary of State.

Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court Maureen O'Connor administered the oath of office and current Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder presided over the ceremony. Secretary Husted's 15 year-old son Alex held the Bible while his wife Tina, daughters Katie (age 3) and Kylie (age 1) and his parents, Jim and Judy Husted looked on.

Secretary Husted's oath marked his fifth in the House Chamber following two as a State Representative and two as Speaker of the Ohio House. For the past two years, Husted has served as State Senator from the 6^th Ohio Senate District.

"It has been an enlightening journey for me as I reflect upon and mark the time through the oaths of office taken in this chamber," Husted said to a packed room. "With every new oath, the job has, in my mind, become progressively less about me and more about all of you and the responsibility of public service."

As Secretary of State, Husted serves as Ohio's chief elections officer. His highest priority is to collaborate with local elections boards to improve the overall administration of elections. As Ohio again looks to be the heart of it all in the 2012 Presidential Election, Secretary Husted wants to ensure a fair, transparent and efficient voting process in which all Ohioans, and voters across the nation, can be confident.

The Secretary of State is also the custodian of business filings. In that capacity, Secretary Husted wants to ensure that in a tough economy, an employer's first interaction with the state of Ohio is positive - free from red tape and bureaucratic delays that cost time and profit.

In addition, the Secretary of State serves as one of five members of the State Apportionment Board, which establishes the boundaries for state legislative districts, chair of the Ohio Ballot Board, which approves language for the ballot, and is the state officer with whom all laws passed by the Ohio General Assembly, municipal charters, administrative rules and Governor's executive orders are filed. Other duties include licensing ministers to perform marriage and issuing apostilles, which are certifications verifying signatures on documents to be used outside of the United States.

Secretary Husted officially reports for duty tomorrow.

Television & Radio

In addition, a three-minute package of footage (full-resolution, broadcast-quality H264 format) from Secretary Husted's swearing-in ceremonies today can be downloaded from the Ohio Channel at http://www.ohiochannel.org/MediaLibrary/FileDownload.aspx?fileId=128628.

An audio file (Mp3 format) can be downloaded here: http://www.ohiochannel.org/MediaLibrary/FileDownload.aspx?fileId=128622.

You can view the entire program at http://www.OhioChannel.org/MediaLibrary/Media.aspx?fileId=128619.

For more information about the ceremony, please contact Maggie Ostrowski at 614-306-3839 and for technical questions about securing footage from the event, please contact the Ohio Channel master control number at 614-728-4186.

Text of the Oath of Office:

I, Jon Husted, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Ohio, and will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all of the duties incumbent upon me as the Secretary of State of Ohio according to the best of my ability, and understanding. This I do as I shall answer unto God.