Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) has denied Democrat Chad Taylor’s request to be removed from the Kansas Senate ballot. His Thursday decision means Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) will face three candidates on the ballot this fall — Taylor, independent Greg Orman and libertarian Randall Batson — boosting the vulnerable senator’s reelection prospects. Now, Taylor could siphon off enough anti-Roberts votes from Orman, who’s been surging in the race and is now seen by Democrats as their best shot to take Roberts down, to deliver the senator an opening for a win. Kobach told reporters that, after evaluating state election law statutes, his legal team found that Taylor did not meet the law’s requirement to provide sufficient “evidence he would be incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected. Short of some sort of injunction or some sort of judicial action barring the state from proceeding, the decision is made,” Kobach said. Kansas Democrats were up in arms, and Taylor himself said shortly after Kobach announced his decision that he’s going to contest it, noting the fact he was told by an elections official the document he submitted Wednesday was sufficient to remove him from the ballot. “I am planning to challenge the ruling of the Kansas Secretary of State, who serves on Pat Roberts’ Honorary Committee,” Taylor said in a statement. Democrats are claiming similar situations have occured in other local races, where a candidate has removed themselves from the ballot without indicating they were unable to serve, have gone unchallenged. It’s still unclear what a legal challenge would entail, however, or how long they’ll have to file a complaint, but the window appears to be narrowing by the day. Kobach said Thursday that because military ballots have to be sent out 45 days before the election, and printing takes some time, “everything has to be set by September 18.” One Democratic operative in the state, Chris Reeves, said he expects some sort of challenge soon. “Several candidates on down ballot have been released from running and other selections made without the huddling of attorneys to keep someone on the ballot – not just this year, but in prior years,” he said in an email. “If Kobach was to force this issue, we would point out state certification of those changes in 2012 and 2014, and note that this would be uneven enforcement of the law by a different standard.” Full Article: Upheaval in Kansas Senate as election official rules Dem can’t withdraw | TheHill.
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