Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will not recuse himself from a potential Kansas Republican gubernatorial primary recount — despite being in the race himself.
“The secretary of state’s office merely serves as a coordinating entity overseeing it all but not actually counting the votes,” Kobach said in his defense, according to the Kansas City Star.
Kobach faced off against incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer (R) Tuesday night in attempt to kick the state’s current executive out of the governor’s mansion. Kobach won the primary by just 191 votes, before counting provisional and mail-in ballots.
According to The Kansas City Star, unless he recuses himself, Kobach will get to set the price of a bond Colyers must file with the secretary of state’s office to cover the cost of a recount, if he chooses to pursue one.
Kobach’s involvement in that step, experts told the paper, may appear to bias the process, even if the secretary of state’s office isn’t involved in the actual county-by-county vote tabulations.
“He could set the bond so high that no one could afford that,” Kansas City attorney Mark Johnson told the Star.
Read the Star’s full report here.
