Duties of the secretary of state include being the custodian of the state's Great Seal and other official state documents, recording the official acts of the governor, distributing copies of legislative resolutions, and recording original bills and resolutions from each biennial Legislative Assembly.

Other duties of the office include those pertaining to statewide elections, licensing within the state, and recording trademarks.

This is attributed to the 34-year tenure of Ben Meier, which as of 2015[update] was the longest of any state-level secretary of state in the US.

As of 2015[update] the office had been held by the North Dakota Republican Party at all times except the period 1989 to 1992, when the state's Democratic Party was in office.

The secretary of state originally served a two-year term, but this was extended to four in 1964 by a constitutional amendment.