Kobach downplays charges against Watkins despite similarity to voter cases he pursued
Kris Kobach charged 15 people with election crimes during his tenure as Kansas’ top election official. Many of the cases involved allegations similar to those now facing Kansas Republican Rep. Steve Watkins, who Kobach campaigned with 2018.
But Kobach, now a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, questioned Friday the decision to prosecute Watkins.
The former Kansas secretary of state, who has repeatedly warned about voter fraud through his political career, suggested that the matter should have been handled instead by the State Objections Board, a panel that includes the secretary of state, attorney general and lieutenant governor.
“It’s a little bit surprising that the objections process wasn’t used and instead the prosecution process was used,” Kobach told the Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle after a campaign event in Junction City. It was his first comment on the Watkins case.
“Normally, we would handle this through the objections process. That’s not saying that the charges are false. I’m not saying anything about the merits,” Kobach said.
But the Objections Board has little to do with Watkins’ case. It settles disputes, for example, over whether candidates qualify for the ballot by meeting residency requirements. It does not have jurisdiction in cases of alleged voter fraud, nor does it level penalties or sanctions.
Watkins faces felony charges of voting without being qualified and unlawful advance voting. He also faces a third felony charge for allegedly lying to a Shawnee County detective.
Kobach brought similar charges against private citizens numerous times, including the first three people he charged with election crimes in 2015 when he became the only secretary of state in the nation with prosecutorial power.
Kobach’s office filed charges in October 2015 against Betty and Steven Gaedtke in Johnson County and against Lincoln Wilson in Sherman County. All three were accused of voting in more than one state.
They were charged with unlawful advance voting and voting without being qualified.
Kobach’s office sought misdemeanor charges for these offenses, not the felony charges Shawnee County DA Mike Kagay has brought against Watkins. Although Kobach’s office did pursue felony election perjury charges against Wilson.
Wilson and Steven Gaedtke both agreed to plea deals. Charges against Betty Gaedtke were dropped.
Kobach’s office conducted 12 additional prosecutions against voters, most of them on similar charges
The charges that face Watkins stem from allegations that he voted in the wrong city council district after using the address of a UPS store for his voter registration. Sources say Watkins was living at his parents’ home, which is located in another city council district.
The State Objections Board process, which Kobach suggested should have been used in Watkins’ case, would not have applied because the allegation isn’t that Watkins shouldn’t appear on the ballot. The allegation is that he voted illegally.
Kobach argued in 2015 that his office required prosecutorial power because county prosecutors had taken a lax approach to pursuing cases of illegal voting.
Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat who was an outspoken critic of giving Kobach that power, noted the irony in Kobach’s approach to the Watkins case.
“This is the very same type of conduct that he prosecuted people for and with the finger pointed at an incumbent Republican he has nothing to say,” Carmichael said.
“Kris Kobach wasn’t really interested in prosecuting election fraud. Kris Kobach was interested in making headlines.”
Kobach’s GOP successor, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, has crafted legislation that would revoke the secretary of state’s prosecutorial power. It has yet to pass the Legislature, but in the meantime Schwab has deferred to county prosecutors and the attorney general’s office on election crimes.
This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Kobach downplays charges against Watkins despite similarity to voter cases he pursued."
