Sue Sitter/PCT Secretary of State candidate Josh Boschee (left) meets with voters at Lee’s Bar in Rugby.

North Dakota State Representative and Secretary of State candidate Joshua Boschee (D-District 44) met with Rugby residents at Lee’s Bar last week to listen to local concerns and remind people of their option to vote by mail.

The Thursday, September 27 meet-and-greet event was one of several stops by Boschee in the region. Local Democrats sponsored the gathering.

“A lot of times, candidates are just going to campaign in the four big cities, and for me, I’ve put on nearly 30,000 miles,” Boschee noted. “I just came from Bottineau this morning; I was in Garrison the other day.”

Boschee said the main purpose of his tour was “getting to know the heartbeat of these communities and trying to understand what the unique needs are as they relate to state government.”

Experience dealing with red tape connected with the Secretary of State’s office in Bismarck led Boschee to file as a candidate January 29, he said.

“The biggest reason I’m running is to modernize the office,” Boschee noted. “The current Secretary of State has been there 25 years, and hasn’t updated the office for technology. So, there are 72,000 small businesses in North Dakota right now, and they annually have to re-file to be recognized by the state, and they can only do that by paper.”

Boschee owns a real estate business and works as an agent for Hatch Realty in Fargo.

He said of the current situation in Bismarck: “You’re not able to file online. Our non-profits and family farmers are in the same situation. So, that’s the main reason I’m running. On top of making sure that our elections are secure, and the cyber security issues that are associated with that, coming from a business background, bringing that to the Secretary of State’s office to create some efficiencies and use technology is part of that.”

Boschee indicated that, because of his business background, “I understand the frustrations other business owners have. I also serve on the House Industry Business and Labor Committee, and we’ve dealt with these issues in that committee as it relates to creation of a new type of licensing, new versions of business, and whether they’d be acceptable in North Dakota.”

A meeting with Rugby Democrats June 6 inspired an idea to create a one-stop government online hub to cut down on paperwork and time for people seeking services.

“Actually, in Rugby, in my meeting in June with all the businesses around the table, is where I got the idea for the North Dakota Hub. It’s one of my proposals. What ND Hub is, is a one-stop shop for businesses to interact with state government,” he explained.

“Currently, as a small business or nonprofit, you have to interact with anywhere from four or more state agencies and regulatory boards,” Boschee continued. “Each one of them has their own system you log into. So, unemployment, job service, Secretary of State, tax department I interact with the Real Estate Commissioner, or it might be the Insurance Commissioner; the podiatry board if you’re a podiatrist. But you have to log into each individual system,” he said.

“So, I propose to make that easier, and make one system, so all the systems all talk to each other, and that would make compliance easy. If you need people to fill out reports and give information, you should make it easy for them to do so.”

As Boschee shook hands and chatted with Rugby voters, he also reminded them September 27 was the first day to cast ballots by mail in Pierce County.

“I stopped by and visited the auditor before coming here, to introduce myself. Early vote by mail starts today, Pierce is a Vote by Mail county, and I wanted to see how things are going in Pierce County,” Boschee said.