KC Star:

An Olathe couple charged in a Kansas voter fraud case made a voting mistake during the confusion of a retirement move to Arkansas, their lawyer said Wednesday.

“They’re very good people,” said Trey Pettlon. He is representing Steven and Betty Gaedtke in the cases filed against them recently by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Pettlon said the couple applied for advance voting ballots in Johnson County for the 2010 general election and submitted them.

Meanwhile, they were traveling back and forth between their Olathe home and their new residence in Arkansas over several months, sorting and moving their belongings. During that time, they voted in person in Arkansas.

“It was a stressful time for them and in the confusion they made a mistake,” Pettlon said. “They weren’t stuffing ballot boxes or anything.”

The secretary of state’s office recently filed three cases in the launch of Kobach’s promised crackdown on voter fraud. Steven Gaedtke, 60, and Betty Gaedtke, 61, were charged with misdemeanors for allegedly casting 2010 general election ballots in both Kansas and Arkansas.