The presidential, congressional and gubernatorial races typically get all the media attention as Republicans and Democrats duel for dominance, but another statewide office is quietly becoming a battleground between the two parties: the secretary of state, who in most states is responsible for administering elections.

Democrats, who control fewer secretary of state offices nationwide than Republicans, see gaining control of the office as key to ensuring free and fair elections. The results of the November elections left Democrats controlling 20 secretary of state offices and Republicans 25. Two state offices are nonpartisan and the position does not exist in three states — Alaska, Hawaii and Utah.

“As we get closer to 2020 more people are reminded of the need to secure our elections and secure our voting rights,” said Alex Padilla, the California secretary of state and president of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State. “Last November we saw the disgraceful conduct of elections in Georgia and Florida, motivating people to fight for change.”

Padilla was referring to the 2018 midterm elections in both states where Democrats questioned how the voting process was handled. In Georgia, Brian Kemp, the secretary of state, was also the Republican Party’s candidate for governor, competing against Democrat Stacey Abrams.

Kemp defied repeated calls for resignation as Democrats insisted it was a conflict of interest for him to conduct an election in which he was a candidate. Democrats also charged Kemp with attempts to suppress voter turnout by requiring an “exact match” between identity documents and voter registration rolls. That tactic and others, they asserted, turned away tens of thousands of voters.