Jean Schodorf is the best choice for Kansas secretary of state

Kansas deserves a secretary of state who will run the office in a serious and professional manner. Voters should give Democrat Jean Schodorf, a well-regarded former state senator, the chance to do that.

Schodorf, a speech pathologist from Wichita, served capably in the Kansas Senate as a moderate Republican before being swept out in Gov. Sam Brownback’s 2012 purge of moderates. Under any party label, she would restore credibility to the secretary of state’s office.

As the incumbent, Republican Kris Kobach has moonlighted as a lawyer for states wanting to deport illegal immigrants. He worked on a Kansas measure to stop federal gun laws from applying to Kansas-made guns. He helped Texas draft a law making it easier to machine-gun feral hogs from helicopters.

None of those activities fits with the primary responsibilities of the secretary of state, which is to run elections smoothly and register businesses. When Kobach did involve himself with election issues, the results have been awful.

He convinced a malleable Legislature to adopt unnecessary proof of citizenship requirement, setting the stage for a voter registration mess. He embarrassed Kansas by entertaining a challenge to placing Barack Obama’s name on the Kansas ballot in 2012 after someone preposterously alleged that the president might not be a U.S. citizen.

Kobach recently dropped any pretense of acting as an impartial elections official with his aggressive and unsuccessful bid to force Democrats to field a candidate in the race for U.S. Senate. Kobach wanted to dilute the strength of Greg Orman’s independent bid to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts.

Whoever is the next secretary of state will inherit the debacle Kobach created with his proof of citizenship law. Thousands of Kansans who registered to vote at vehicle offices, per federal law, did so without producing documents that are now required by state law. When their paperwork reached county election offices, they were placed in “suspended status.” Some registrations still aren’t straightened out.

In interviews, including a recent one with KCUR-FM radio, Kobach has disrespectfully said the citizens in suspended status don’t care enough about voting to produce the required paperwork. He said the stringent requirements are working because they have stopped about 10 non-residents from registering.

That’s a dubious claim. People who aren’t in the country legally are unlikely to call attention to themselves by attempting to vote. But in any case, screening out 10 nonresidents is hardly worth throwing the registration status of 18,000 Kansans into limbo.

Schodorf has done her homework and has good ideas for streamlining business filings, modernizing the state’s voting apparatus and cutting down on the election-day glitches that have marred Kobach’s tenure. She pledges to be “a public servant working for the people, not a personal agenda.” That would be a refreshing change.

This story was originally published October 8, 2014 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Jean Schodorf is the best choice for Kansas secretary of state."