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Salina Republican J.R. Claeys is one of three candidates running in the Republican primary for secretary of state, but he says what sets him apart is his focus on small businesses.
“Emphasizing the side of the office that is the business side is something I’ve been doing that (other candidates) have not,” he said.
Though the secretary of state’s office is responsible for overseeing elections, Claeys said a majority of the day-to-day work in the office is related to business filings.
“The current economy needs someone who’s focused on small businesses,” he said. He named keeping filing fees for business documents as low as possible as a priority for him, if elected, in order to be more accommodating to small businesses. Claeys has a history of working with small businesses groups in Washington.
When it comes to the Secretary of State’s role in elections, Claeys said a major priority would be implementing stronger identification requirements at the polls.
Apart from obvious benefits to more strict ID requirements, like a potential reduction in voter fraud, Claeys insists lines at polling places would be shorter if all voters were required to present a state-issued photo ID.
“We’re going to have voter ID’s in some form in Kansas,” he said.
In order to enforce such a requirement, he said, ID cards would have to be more readily available, particularly in rural areas where traveling to a DMV, especially for the elderly, may be a hardship. He also said an ID would need to be free, so the nominal fee usually required would not amount to a poll tax.
Opponents of ID requirements claim requiring all voters to have a state-issued photo ID is an inconvenience that will keep potential voters away from the polls.
Currently, voters may show bills to confirm name and address to poll workers, and the information is verified with their voter registration card. Claeys said this process slows down polls and forces poll workers to make subjective decisions about the validity of the materials provided. He also said when lines get too long, handicapped and elderly people are the first to leave.
Claeys said deployed military are another disenfranchised group for which he would advocate. As few as 16 percent of active-duty service members voted in 2006. He said he would work toward allowing electronic transmission of ballots for military members overseas, because many service members get absentee ballots too late to cast a vote, sometimes after the election has taken place.
“And when they’re serving our country overseas, that’s just unacceptable,” he said.
Claeys is running against two other Republican candidates on the Aug. 3 primary election ballot, Kris Kobach, former Kansas Republican Party chairman, and Elizabeth “Libby” Ensley, Shawnee County election commissioner.
Kobach is involved in an investigation by the Federal Elections Commission regarding possible mismanagement of funds and unpaid taxes on the part of the state Republican party during his tenure as chairman.
“I would say that that’s a failure of leadership,” Claeys said of his opponent. “I think it’s important that the secretary of state be a leader.”
There are two Democratic candidates running for secretary of state, incumbent Chris Biggs and Chris Steineger, sixth district state senator. The winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries will appear on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.
Salina Republican J.R. Claeys is one of three candidates running in the Republican primary for secretary of state, but he says what sets him apart is his focus on small businesses.
“Emphasizing the side of the office that is the business side is something I’ve been doing that (other candidates) have not,” he said.
Though the secretary of state’s office is responsible for overseeing elections, Claeys said a majority of the day-to-day work in the office is related to business filings.
“The current economy needs someone who’s focused on small businesses,” he said. He named keeping filing fees for business documents as low as possible as a priority for him, if elected, in order to be more accommodating to small businesses. Claeys has a history of working with small businesses groups in Washington.
When it comes to the Secretary of State’s role in elections, Claeys said a major priority would be implementing stronger identification requirements at the polls.
Apart from obvious benefits to more strict ID requirements, like a potential reduction in voter fraud, Claeys insists lines at polling places would be shorter if all voters were required to present a state-issued photo ID.
“We’re going to have voter ID’s in some form in Kansas,” he said.
In order to enforce such a requirement, he said, ID cards would have to be more readily available, particularly in rural areas where traveling to a DMV, especially for the elderly, may be a hardship. He also said an ID would need to be free, so the nominal fee usually required would not amount to a poll tax.
Opponents of ID requirements claim requiring all voters to have a state-issued photo ID is an inconvenience that will keep potential voters away from the polls.
Currently, voters may show bills to confirm name and address to poll workers, and the information is verified with their voter registration card. Claeys said this process slows down polls and forces poll workers to make subjective decisions about the validity of the materials provided. He also said when lines get too long, handicapped and elderly people are the first to leave.
Claeys said deployed military are another disenfranchised group for which he would advocate. As few as 16 percent of active-duty service members voted in 2006. He said he would work toward allowing electronic transmission of ballots for military members overseas, because many service members get absentee ballots too late to cast a vote, sometimes after the election has taken place.
“And when they’re serving our country overseas, that’s just unacceptable,” he said.
Claeys is running against two other Republican candidates on the Aug. 3 primary election ballot, Kris Kobach, former Kansas Republican Party chairman, and Elizabeth “Libby” Ensley, Shawnee County election commissioner.
Kobach is involved in an investigation by the Federal Elections Commission regarding possible mismanagement of funds and unpaid taxes on the part of the state Republican party during his tenure as chairman.
“I would say that that’s a failure of leadership,” Claeys said of his opponent. “I think it’s important that the secretary of state be a leader.”
There are two Democratic candidates running for secretary of state, incumbent Chris Biggs and Chris Steineger, sixth district state senator. The winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries will appear on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.
