Secretary of State Kris Kobach finally got the prosecutorial powers he wanted. Brace yourself, Kansas voters, as he’s unlikely to put them in a drawer. Kobach is such a zealot on the nonissue of voter fraud that he didn’t even wait to start investigations until Gov. Sam Brownback had signed the bill, which occurred Monday. Kobach said three attorneys in his office will work on potential cases at least part time, and he likely will handle some as well. He claimed he’s homing in on more than 100 possible cases of double voting from 2014, using phrases Monday such as “all-time high” and “slam dunk.” The more accurate wording about Kobach’s expanded power came from Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, who called it “jousting at windmills.”
One problem is that it’s “unnecessary and redundant” to give the Secretary of State’s Office this power, as the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association’s testimony put it. The other is that where local prosecutors view showing criminal intent as necessary in such prosecutions, Kobach may not. And especially given the aggressive partisanship he has exhibited as the state’s top election official, it’s fair to wonder whether he’d be nonpartisan in picking and choosing voters to prosecute.
As the League of Women Voters of Kansas has observed, the new law also makes it a nonperson felony to “knowingly” vote or attempt to vote without being qualified “in any election district when not a lawfully registered voter in such election district.”
Full Article: Brace yourself for Kobach | The Wichita Eagle The Wichita Eagle.