GOP chairman Kelly Arnold wants Kris Kobach’s job

Promising to continue Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s policies requiring voter ID and proof of citizenship, Sedgwick County Clerk Kelly Arnold officially joined the race to replace Kobach on Tuesday.

Arnold’s announcement came after several months of exploratory work and preparation for a campaign. Kobach is running for governor, leaving the secretary of state’s office up for grabs.

Like Kobach before him, Arnold is the chairman of the Kansas Republican Party.

And also like Kobach, Arnold supports requiring a birth certificate or similar citizenship documents to register to vote and a government-issued photo ID to cast a vote at the polls.

“My focus will make sure that we have free and fair elections; that only citizens, those that can vote, will be able to vote,” Arnold said. “The secretary (Kobach) has worked with the Legislature to create strong voter ID laws here in Kansas and that’s something that I do support.”

One potential difference between Kobach and Arnold could be how they approach the issue of prosecution of voter fraud cases.

After seeking and getting prosecutorial power from the Legislature two years ago, Kobach has secured nine convictions, almost all of them people who voted more than once in Kansas and neighboring states where they own property. Kobach has said in the past that local prosecutors went too easy on settling voting crime cases.

Arnold said he would like to seek a more collaborative approach.

“The secretary of state’s office can prosecute on their own, but I think it’s good to have a partnership with either the local county attorney or district attorney or attorney general’s office in reviewing which cases to go after or to file and work with full-time prosecutors on this,” he said.

Arnold also said he’d like to make the secretary of state’s office more helpful to people starting businesses.

In addition to acting as the repository for business filings, Arnold said he’d take a more active role to “help people navigate the red tape of starting a business.”

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 2:06 PM with the headline "GOP chairman Kelly Arnold wants Kris Kobach’s job."