just curious… if voting is by secret ballot how do they keep track of an individual’s ‘provisional’ ballot so one can ‘prove’ that they are allowed to vote and that ballot can be counted?
Kobach’s hypocrisy is on display for all to see. When it comes to his own election he is blind to the conflict his position causes until he is called out, and he argues the position really doesn’t matter much at the same time that he is advising local authorities on how to treat certain ballots.
I don’t think the limited education courses the judge prescribed for Kobach after his conduct at an earlier trial, in which he appeared as counsel and blew it, will be enough. He doesn’t get fundamental fairness or the role of the rule of law. At this point, I doubt he can be taught those values and the Kansas Bar Association should be investigating to see what discipline should be imposed up to disbarment.
“describing it as a “symbolic” step in response to a public demand from Colyer.”
I think it goes without saying that any action taken by Kobach that suggests ethical behavior would be symbolic in nature.
You have to give personal info for the provisional ballot. The contents are supposedly secret until the judge rules if the the ballot can be counted. I suppose since you have to give your name and address, your party affiliation can be looked up.
The governor publicly accused Kobach, the state’s top elections official, of giving county election officials information about the handling of yet-uncounted ballots “inconsistent with Kansas law.” He demanded in a letter to Kobach that Kobach stop advising county officials and have the state’s attorney general do it instead.
No wonder Trump backs Kobach: the sonofabitch is as stupid, brazen and lawless as Trump himself. We knew that, of course, but the sheer chutzpah this shit shows is stunning. Corruption and illegal votor suppression is baked in this this bastard’s DNA.
I read this a little out of order…
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Thursday that he will remove himself from the further counting of votes while his Republican primary battle with Gov. Jeff Colyer hangs in the balance, describing it as a “symbolic” step in response to a public demand from Colyer.
Symbolic is not the same as conflict of interest…
As secretary of state, Kobach sets rules, gives county officials guidance and appoints election commissioners in the state’s four most populous counties. Kobach spokeswoman Danedri Herbert said he would respond to Colyer’s letter Friday.
Well, well, there’s the conflict of interest…
The governor publicly accused Kobach, the state’s top elections official, of giving county election officials information about the handling of yet-uncounted ballots “inconsistent with Kansas law.” He demanded in a letter to Kobach that Kobach stop advising county officials and have the state’s attorney general do it instead.
This is getting good…Kobach got slapped around in court for not understanding federal procedures, now, he’s getting molly wopped by the governor for not applying Kansas election law properly. Damn, does this guy really understand, or care about, the laws he’s supposed to enforce??
Colyer released his letter to Kobach after his campaign announced that it had set up a “voting integrity” hotline and urged people to report their complaints about the election. Colyer spokesman Kendall Marr said it received “countless” reports, adding that he personally knows of several dozen.
“It has come to my attention that your office is giving advice to county election officials — as recently as a conference call yesterday — and you are making public statements on national television which are inconsistent with Kansas law and may serve to suppress the vote in the ongoing primary election process,” Colyer said in his letter to Kobach.
Oh man, now the governor is going full-on Republican Voter Fraud on Kobach…Kris?
Kobach needled Colyer in a Fox Business network appearance Thursday evening, saying it would be “pointless” to remove himself from the process because the state’s 105 counties handle the counting of ballots but he might do so just to make Colyer “feel good.”
But a little more than an hour later, questioned on CNN, Kobach said: “I said, ‘Of course, if he wants me to, I would,” and he has said, ‘OK, I do want you to,’ so I will.”
That’s called a backpedal…
Kobach told reporters Wednesday that he knew of no significant reports of irregularities in Tuesday’s primaries, outside of long delays in reporting results from the state’s most populous county. There, Johnson County in the Kansas City area, results were delayed by problems with uploading data from new voting machines.
But the totals for the GOP primary for the governor’s race in at least two counties posted on the secretary of state’s website did not match the totals from the counties themselves.
Damn Kris! Looks like you thought you could play this a little fast and loose and the governor gave you enough rope to dangle from. He’s boxed you in on this one.
Kris, if you lose, don’t go away mad, just go away.
Yes. Your suggestions are more practical than my rant.
Eh-hem, Comrade Kobach, Dear Leader has some encouraging words for you…
“Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.”
― Joseph Stalin
If he had any sort of moral compass, he would have recused himself from the vote counting before primary election day. Overseeing the election of which you are on the ballot is the definition of conflict of interest.
The ethical choice would have been clear to anyone who was even marginally ethical. Perhaps he thought that it would be a landslide because of his friends in high places. I guess the Kremlin isn’t interested in Kansas.
If Kobach ends up having fewer votes, he gets to set the cost of the bond on the recount. Want to bet it will be $1.00 for him and megabucks for his opponent?
Republicans don’t like it much when Republican corruption is directed inward. Now imagine how the rest of us feel.
Colyer probably didn’t have much to say when Kobach was depriving minorities and others the right to vote.
I think Kobach’s parenrs forgot to explain to him what the word “honesty” meant that time he was caught raiding the cookie jar.
In Kobach’s mind ethics are for losers. Much like that other guy he admires so much who sports weird hair and who’s endorsement Kobach has happily accepted.
Logically there is no problem (as seen from Denmark, mind you):
Two closed envelopes, one inside the other, the outer one with personal info, so they can check you not also voted ‘in person’, The inner envelope is anonymous, with your ballot.