SALON

Friday, Oct 5, 2012 9:48 PM UTC

Kansas secretary of state faces recall effort

An activist group is collecting signatures to oust Republican Kris Kobach

By

Topics: 2012 Elections, Kris Kobach, Kansas, Voter ID, Republicans, Immigration, , ,

Kansas secretary of state faces recall effortKansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, R. (Credit: Facebook/SecretaryKrisKobach)

Kris Kobach, recently seen mulling a birther challenge to Obama’s ballot eligibility, is now facing a recall effort.

Activists Sonny Scroggins and Frank Smith are behind the effort, citing Kobach’s role in drafting the controversial immigration laws adopted in Arizona and Alabama as well as his push for voter ID in the state.

But Scroggins and Smith face a few obstacles to even getting a ballot measure. From John Celock of HuffPo:

While legal in Kansas, statewide recall elections are difficult to bring about. Under state law, Scroggins and Smith will first need to collect some 83,000 signatures (or 10 percent of the turnout in the 2010 secretary of state election) and show cause to recall Kobach, which will be reviewed by a state judge. A Kansas official can be recalled only for a felony conviction, misconduct, incompetence or failure to perform the duties of his or her office.

If a state judge accepts the petition, the recall effort will need to collect an additional 330,000 signatures (40 percent of the 2010 turnout) to actually get on the ballot. State law also requires recall organizers to obtain at least 100 Kansas residents eligible to vote to sponsor the recall petition.

“Kris has got all the money, got the Koch brother behind him, and he’s got Donald Trump, but we’ve got God on our side and we want everybody sitting at the table,” Scroggins told KMBZ News.

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 27 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
187 points188 points | 87 comments
vote
Are millennials delusional? New research suggests that members of "Generation Me" are warped by a profound sense of entitlement
33 points34 points | 29 comments
vote
"New evidence reveals big banks still illegally foreclosing on thousands of homes – and weak settlement allows it."
29 points30 points | comment
vote
6 insidious ways you’re getting ripped off … And how to fight back
24 points25 points | 3 comments
vote
"Contrary to the myth of the happy, apple-cheeked great-great-grandmother, cooking has rarely been seen as a source of fulfillment, historically speaking." DIY domesticity, femivores, and refutations on the impacts of feminism on fast-food culture.
30 points31 points | 20 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations