If You Care About the ‘Vote Fraud’ Issue …

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach makes his victory speech at a Republican watch party Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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I’m chagrined I didn’t know about this earlier. But it is another amazing development out of the fun-house world of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), the progenitor of anti-immigrant laws around the country but most known as perhaps the biggest charlatan in the on-going war on voting which goes under the heading of anti-‘voter fraud’ activism. And, Good Lord, is it a high bar. Generally, someone in a position like Kobach occupies must make a referral to a prosecutor if they believe they have evidence of a crime like voter fraud. But apparently even in Kansas, where he should have a friendly audience among local prosecutors, he can’t find anyone to indict people over his bogus claims and witch hunts. So he’s got a solution. He’s got a new law passed which in addition amping up a bunch of criminal statutes gives him as Secretary State the ability to prosecute supposed offenders on his own. (The law is currently on the governor’s desk.) In other words, he no longer has to convince actual prosecutors that a crime has been committed. He can just prosecute anyone he wants. Here’s the story.

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