WASHINGTON In three states, the referee for the midterm elections is also on the field as a player.
Elected secretaries of state in Georgia and Kansas who in their official capacities oversee the elections in their states are running for governor. Ohios secretary of state is running for lieutenant governor. All are Republicans.
They have faced scattered calls to resign but have refused to do so. Election reformers say the situation underscores the conflict of interest when an official has responsibilities for an election while also running as a candidate.
There is just too much of a temptation if a political party is in a position to run the mechanics of an election to try to tilt it, and its a temptation we ought not to encourage, said former U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, an Indiana Democrat. This is not nuclear physics.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp faces charges of voter suppression in his state, while Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has become an emblem of a political warrior. A former chairman of the states Republican Party, Kobach organized the Prairie Fire political action committee to attack moderate Republican candidates while serving as secretary of state.
Issues about his dual hats swirled around Kobach during the Aug. 7 primary in Kansas when he was locked in a tight race for the Republican nomination with Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer. It marked one of the closest primary races in U.S. history and came down to counting provisional ballots.
Even the Republican seeking to succeed Kobach as secretary of state has distanced himself. Whether you like it or not, Kris has been distracted with lawsuits. He was an early part of the presidents transition team and running for governor for several years, Republican candidate Scott Schwab said in a forum earlier this week.
Political scientists say lawsuits and perceptions of favoritism are bound to arise as the post of secretary of state is seen as a stepping stone to higher office.
You dont want to have a misperception that you are placing a thumb on the scale of your own election, said Michael P. McDonald, a University of Florida elections expert who heads the United States Elections Project, a nonpartisan research and information service.
The issue of electoral influence goes beyond what unfolds when votes are counted.
Election officials have a lot of discretion, said Daniel P. Tokaji, an authority on electoral law at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University, adding that a variety of legal questions inevitably arise during campaigns.
Just to give you a few that have arisen in years past, in a state that has a voter ID law, what forms of voter ID are acceptable and unacceptable? Often the statute doesnt spell that out with perfect clarity, Tokaji said.
Where and when should early voting and absentee voting be allowed? Under what circumstances should provisional ballots be counted? What should be the practice when it comes to removing voters from the rolls?
