Usually, people say it’s a photo that’s worth a thousand words.
But in Kansas politics, everything is upside down these days. So it was the accompanying flawed caption, not the photo of Gov. Sam Brownback signing a new law Monday, that had people musing.
“… after the signing of Senate Bill 34, a bill that grants persecuting power to the Secretary of State for cases of voter fraud.”
Persecuting. That’ll probably be accurate.
Kris Kobach has coveted the legal right to prosecute voter fraud for years. He fervently believes such abuse is rampant. Facts have never borne out the contention. Neither have his own actions. In February, the Associated Press proved that, contrary to his claims, he’d never forwarded any cases of suspected fraud for prosecution to the Kansas attorney general.
Now it’s Kobach’s turn. He’s been empowered by legislators who unwisely thought it prudent to give him prosecutorial power.
But he’ll need to prove charges, and not with innuendo, but with indisputable facts showing intent. Kobach will have to make distinctions between actual fraud and what is merely a mistake or technology gone awry.