Politico.com notes that Democrats [3] have gained "control of secretary of state offices in five key states -- Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio -- where the difference between victory and defeat in the 2004 presidential election [4] was no more than 120,000 votes. ... With a Democrat now in charge of the offices, which oversee and administer their state's elections, the party is better positioned than in the previous elections to advance traditional Democratic interests -- such as increasing voter registration and boosting turnout -- rather than Republican [5] priorities such as stamping out voter fraud. Perhaps more important, in those five states Democrats are now in a more advantageous position when it comes to the interpretation and administration of election law -- a development that could benefit Barack Obama [6] if any of those states are closely contested on Election Day." The Secretary of State Project [7] is "affiliated with Democracy Alliance [8]. ... 'We were tired of Republican manipulation of elections,' said Michael Kieschnick [9], a founder of the group who is also the president of Working Assets [10], a company that provides credit cards and mobile phone services to progressive organizations."