(a) The Secretary of State may appoint a deputy to aid him or her in the discharge of his or her duties whose acts, performed in the name of the Secretary of State, shall have the same validity as the acts of his or her principal.
(b) The deputy, before he or she enters upon the performance of his or her duties, shall take an oath, which will be endorsed upon his or her letter of appointment, that he or she will perform all the duties of his or her office faithfully and according to law.
(c) The corporation clerk of the office of Secretary of State shall also be a deputy Secretary of State.