For over a year, IVN has reported on Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's crusade against fraudulent voters -- including the twists, turns, court rejections, and outright lack of evidence his investigations have produced.
From illegally purging 18,000 legitimate voters from the rolls to falsely promising the state legislature 200 cases of voter fraud for immediate prosecution -- Kobach has spent more time in court defending his baseless claims than actually doing his job.
But he stays in the headlines, after all, it's popular to claim millions of instances of voter fraud with little to no evidence -- and it's given him more than a little bit of political mileage.
But when a legitimate, provable instance of balloting trouble comes across his desk, what happens? Nothing.
At the center of this controversy is the tiny town of Fredrick, Kansas -- one of the smallest incorporated towns in Kansas, with 9 registered voters within the city limits.
After years of decline -- at nearly ghost town status today -- a very simple issue was placed on the ballot: 'Shall the city of Frederick be dissolved?'
An easy enough question, and with only 6 of the 9 registered voters casting ballots, we'd naturally assume this would be a cut-and-dry issue to resolve.
But nothing is ever easy; especially, when it comes to election mistakes.
While it isn't as glamorous as non-citizens casting votes or ballot box stuffing, the township made a mistake in the election process and gave ballots with the city question on it to too many people -- fourteen to be precise.
And so what should have been an overwhelming vote to dissolve the city became an issue where those outside the city limits voted to leave the town's incorporation intact.
Now comes into play mistake #2: The county canvassing board didn't catch the mistake in the ballot, completely missing the fact that over twice the number of registered voters cast ballots.
Elections are a system of checks and balances. The local election board records their results, forwarding to the county for federally required canvassing, and the final check is the Sec. of State's office, where the elections are certified as valid.
Mistake #3: Kobach's office rubber stamped the county's canvassing results.
The worst mistake is the final one: when alerted to the problem, what was the Sec. of State office's response? Nothing can be done.
This 14 vote mistake is a prime example of the hypocrisy among the 'champions of the ballot box.' When confronted with a real, easily provable issue -- they balk and do nothing.
This obvious mistake by the sec. of state's office has consequences. Like how to pay for the town's expenses for another year until the next election -- especially when residents were already expecting to turn over local control to the county?
It's easy to claim that unprovable millions of 'boogie men' lurk in the shadows of America's ballot boxes -- but facing real issues takes courage, sincerity, and simply doing one's job right.