The Independent View: Kansas New Voter Fraud Law

Too many kansans are voting in too many states. So Secretary of State Kris Kobach is planning to take them to court. It's the first time Kobach will use a new law allowing him to file charges against those accused of voter fraud. He says Kansas has the most secure elections in the country but there are still those who break the law when voting.

On July 1st a new law allowing Kobach to prosecute cases of voter fraud went into effect.

Next month Kobach plans to file cases against what he calls a handful of voters who voted not only in Kansas but also in other states during the 2010 elections. "Right now we're looking at a handful of cases from 2010. But behind that handful there's a much larger group of cases from the 2012 and 2014 elections," Kobach said. "It's a small percentage of the number of votes cast. Less than 1% of the votes in any given election."

But, he says the overall number of voter fraud cases is less important than their impact. "The question is do we have close elections in Kansas that sometimes come down to one or two or five votes. And the answer is, yes, we have them all the time."

Sometimes that leaves the decision to the luck of a coin toss or card draw. "Then you've got the potential to steal an election," he said. "And I would argue even if the election wasn't close, it's important to deter voter fraud by prosecuting it."

The cases Kobach plans to file in September and October are the first cases since the Kansas legislature gave Kobach the power to prosecute voter fraud. Before that, his office could only investigate complaints and hand the results over to the U.S. Attorney, the Kansas Attorney General or a county attorney. But he says the cases were rarely prosecuted, often due to lack of time.

Opponents have argued this isn't about preventing voter fraud, but keeping minorities and the poor from voting at all. The League of Women Voters in Wichita doesn't believe Kobach will find any cases that will hold up in court.

After lawmakers gave Kobach the power to prosecute voter fraud he set-up a special tip hotline. In the first month it received fewer than five calls, most of those political statements, not tips. Kobach says the cases he plans on filing next month did not come from the hotline.