The secretary of state is in charge of managing Kansas elections, and the office is opening up as Republican Scott Schwab isn’t running for reelection after losing his bid for the Republican nomination for governor.
While the duties of the secretary of state office remain largely the same from secretary to secretary, their approaches vary widely.
Former Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is now attorney general, used the office to advocate for a law requiring proof-of-citizenship to vote in Kansas. The law was tossed by a federal judge.
Compared to Kobach, current Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab has flown under the radar. He’s consistently defended Kansas elections as fair and safe.
Pat Proctor — Republican candidate
Political experience: Proctor was elected to represent Leavenworth in the Kansas House in 2020. He chairs the House Elections Committee and has pushed legislation that he says makes elections more secure against fraud.
Proctor championed a law that ended the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots, meaning only ballots received by 7 p.m. on Election Day would be counted. He said the law would restore voter confidence in election results.
But that change is currently on hold after a court blocked the new law, effectively reinstating the grace period.
What else? Proctor served in the Army from 1989 to 2019, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Proctor has his doctorate in history from Kansas State University, and three military-related master’s degrees. He teaches homeland security at Wichita State University.
His family owns Baan Thai Restaurant, which has locations in Leavenworth and Manhattan.
Platform: Proctor’s website says his priorities are “restoring confidence in our elections, growing our economy.”
He’s a sponsor of a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would change wording in the Kansas state constitution related to citizenship.
A section of Kansas law says voting as a noncitizen is a felony.
The Kansas State Constitution currently reads that “every citizen of the United States” who’s over 18 and resides in the state can vote.
Proctor said the amendment would change the state constitution from reading that “every” citizen can vote, to “only” citizens can vote.
Clay Barker, general counsel from the current secretary of state’s office, told lawmakers the amendment would clarify the requirement of citizenship and ensure that the citizenship requirement “cannot be challenged on the basis of wording.”
Proctor is focused on restoring Election Day as the final voting deadline and strengthening paper audits of elections. He said “nefarious foreign and domestic actors” affect elections.
In a recording, Proctor is seen saying that Democrat-funded groups put calculated pressure on voters before the 2022 vote on abortion access, and his critics frequently post excerpts from it.
“Democrats are stealing our elections, fair and square. They are using legal election methods in an unethical manner to steal our elections,” he said.
In the video, Proctor said those groups used technology to get people opposed to the amendment to vote who generally aren’t active voters, including what he said were “20 to 30-year-old women who you never saw at the polls before.” He said that influenced the outcome of the election.
Kansans upheld the state’s right to abortion by a more than 18 percentage point margin.
Proctor said excerpts from the video shared on social media were misleading and edited to take his comments out of context. His opponent has used clips from the recording to criticize him, especially his comments about women.
Proctor told the Kansas News Service that he did not mean that the women voting were stealing the election, but the “ballot-harvesting organizations” were the problem
The secretary of state also manages many administrative filings. Proctor’s website touts his experience as a business owner, saying that means he’s worked with the office and knows what areas need improvement.
Proctor’s website says the Kansas government should be a “helper, not a hindrance” to establishing new businesses.
Jennifer Day — Democratic candidate
Political experience: Day was appointed to a vacancy in the Kansas House in 2020 and then won her race to stay in office by 62 votes. She resigned from the Johnson County seat in 2021 after moving out of the district.
During her brief time in office, she sponsored legislation to end the state death penalty (the last execution in Kansas came in 1965) and to prohibit carrying a concealed handgun in the Statehouse.
What else? She’s lived in Overland Park for 25 years, has volunteered as an election worker and has served as vice president of the Johnson County chapter of the League of Women Voters.
The League frequently sues to challenge Kansas voting laws, including a lawsuit to strike a law requiring election officials to verify signatures before counting mail-in ballots.
Platform: Day sent her top three priorities to the Johnson County Post: increasing voter education and confidence, ensuring elections are secure and accessible and strengthening the office’s service to Kansas businesses.
She said she wants to reinstate the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots and create a longer period for advance voting.
She said disputes about election law have become too partisan.
Municipalities in three states and Washington D.C. allow noncitizens to vote in some local elections.
Proctor’s campaign posted a video of Day noting that and saying it is “not the case in Kansas, unfortunately,” where noncitizens can vote in some local-level elections.
Day’s campaign denied this characterization of her statement, and said she does not support noncitizens voting in any Kansas elections.
Grace Hills reports on politics for the Kansas News Service.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KMUW, KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KRPS and High Plains Public Radio.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
