Activist group releases Secretary of State's calendar

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March 16, 2012|By Brian Heap | Factfinder 12 Investigator

(TOPEKA, Kan.) — An activist group accuses Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach of not doing his job. Thursday, Kansans Count released the findings of its month-long investigation into Kobach's job performance.

The group claims the elected official spends more time on television pursuing his personal political ambitions than he does serving the citizens of Kansas.

"The state's not prepared for voter ID. What is Kobach doing if he's not preparing the state? He had eight months to do that," said Louis Goseland, of Kansans Count.

FactFinder 12 and "Kansans Count" obtained copies of Kobach's public calendar through an open records request. The activist group says its analysis of the calendar shows Kobach avoids his job and spends too much time promoting his political agenda.

"To us, it's inexcusable to basically be pulling off some kind of publicity campaign for his own political interest outside of the state that he serves," Goseland said.

The calendar lists meetings with staff and public officials. It also lists some speaking engagements at Tea Party and "Pro-Life" rallies. There are dozens of national TV interviews on the schedule with people like Lou Bobbs and Bill O'Reilly. Some of them happen on Kobach's time and some happen during normal business hours.

"Quite often I'm talking about photo ID issues and how we can improve voter integrity across the country," Kobach said. "I think it's important to encourage other states to follow our lead."

Kobach sad Goseland's group has a political agenda, and tried to "misinterpret" his public calendar as part of an attack on his policies toward voter ID and illegal immigration.

Kobach said he was upfront with voters about plans to continue to fight against illegal immigration in his spare time. He said he spends between 40 and 60 hours a week on Secretary of State duties, which include running elections and overseeing business compliance.

Kobach also wanted voters to know that when does go out of town to speak about topics like illegal immigration, he doesn't use taxpayer money and travels on his own time.

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