(TOPEKA, Kan.)—
(AP) - The Kansas Senate is debating legislation that expands the definition of election fraud and gives the secretary of state authority to prosecute the crime.Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach has made election fraud a major focus of his tenure since he took office in 2011.
Under existing law, only county attorneys and the Kansas attorney general can prosecute voter fraud. The bill being debated Thursday would extend the authority to the secretary of state.
The Senate rejected an effort by the Democratic minority to bar the secretary of state from forming a political action committee that contributes to legislative candidates, as Kobach did in 2012.
