Rob Hodgkinson, candidate for Kansas Secretary of State for the Libertarian party, stopped in Great Bend Thursday afternoon as part of a western Kansas campaign tour. He visited the offices of the Great Bend Tribune. Articulate and personable, he shared his views on election issues and how, if he is elected, he would advocate for increased inclusiveness in the election process at all levels. 

“I’ve always had an interest in elections,” he said. Ever since he turned 18, he has voted in every presidential election. He is a strong advocate for constitutional voting rights, free and fair elections, improved election auditing, and updating and improving access to records kept by the Secretary of State’s office both on the business registration and elections sides. 

On election auditing

He questions the effectiveness of the VVPAT barcode type voter-verified-paper-audit-trail voting machines utilized by Johnson County. According to Hodgkinson, this is how the machines work: After the voters complete their ballot, they have the option to receive a printout. 

While the voter can read and verify their vote, it’s the barcode generated on the spot that contains the information input into the final vote. After the voter verifies the vote and inserts their record in the voting machine, only the information on the barcode is recorded. Hodgkinson contends that if the barcode is incorrect, there is no way for auditors to tell, and the same is doubly true for those who opt out of receiving a printout of their vote. For those voters, their vote is instantly counted.

“I’m not thrilled they spent an ungodly amount of money on those machines,” he said. And, he adds, there are a plethora of types of machines used all over the state.

“I’m a big fan of hand-marked paper ballots,” he said. For the past 12 years, Hodgkinson has participated in advanced voting. He picks up his paper ballot at the election office, marks it, and hand delivers it back to the office, not even placing his trust in the U.S. Postal Service. 

“After this latest primary, you can understand why,” he said. “The cut-off may be Friday at noon, but guess what, they were getting ballots in the afternoon and on Saturday.”

Those advanced ballots have been hand-marked, and voter intent is known and is very clear. They can be scanned and, if there’s a problem with that scanner, they can scan it in another machine; if that fails, the ballot can be counted manually. And while he’s heard the arguments about the potential disaster of boxes of ballots going missing, he still prefers it over the barcode machines. 

“It’s never going to be a perfect system, but I believe having paper ballots that can be hand audited is better than the system in place now,” he said. 

On voter registration

Hodgkinson agrees with the court’s ruling against Kris Kobach’s position on voter registration. He knows firsthand how the Kansas law can obstruct voter registration. When his son turned 18 three years ago, it took three attempts to finally complete the registration process. Hodgkinson, incidentally, is a fifth-generation Kansan, his son a sixth-generation Kansan. 

He agrees with the court that the Kobach law was unconstitutional, because at the bottom of the registration, affirmation by signature is still required that the voter is a citizen. 

“By doing that, if you are not a citizen, you’ve committed perjury,” he said. The county attorney can then file charges, he said. He added that he does not feel the Secretary of State needs prosecutorial powers. 

“If I’m elected, any staff that is there strictly for prosecutorial purposes will be relieved of their duties,” he said.  

On elections

Hodgkinson believes the Secretary of State office should be non-partisan. 

“You really shouldn’t be wearing the uniform of one of the teams when election issues come up,” he said. 

As a member of one of the minor parties, he’s perfectly positioned to serve in that capacity, he said. 

“I’m going to do what’s right for Kansas,” he said. “I’m not going to do what’s right for one of the parties.” 

He added that one of the key differences between himself, Republican Scott Schwab, and Democrat Brian McClendon is that he’s running for the office with the intent of serving in that position, rather than treating it as a stepping stone to higher office. He believes both the other candidates have aspirations to eventually run for governor or serve in Washington. 

“I am the election expert when it comes to major and minor parties,” he said. Looking back to 2016 when Representative Mike Pompeo was tapped by the Trump Administration, Hodgkinson remembers how Kobach’s office intended to force the Libertarian party to sue for the right to participate in the special election to fill his position. Keith Esau was chair of the Kansas House Committee on Elections. 

“Keith and I go way back. We both played in band together at Buhler,” he said. They talked, and Hodkinson came to Topeka and testified in favor of a bill to increase fairness and inclusiveness for minor parties and independent candidates. The bill passed, he said, in time for a Libertarian candidate to run in the election following Pompeo’s resignation. 

Already, the former chairman of the Libertarian Party of Kansas assisted other minor parties, like the Green Party, navigate the ins and outs of getting on the ballot in the state, he said. 

“I love that. The more candidates we have the better,” he said. The fact there are five in the governor’s race means candidates will have to talk issues, instead of two candidates throwing mud at each other. “That’s how things get started.”

This and other issues, like legalizing hemp, which Hodgkinson is in favor of, have generated more discussion during this election cycle, he noted. This is happening, in part, because there are more candidates offering their positions on the topic.   

As for the argument that minor parties dilute votes, he’s never been a believer in that, he said. In fact, he’s testified in favor of ranked choice voting, in which voters can rank their preferences in order for races with more than two candidates. 

“In my world, there’s no such thing as a spoiler vote, there’s not such thing as a protest vote, and there’s no such thing as a wasted vote,” he said. “You vote for who you want to vote for, and let the chips fall where they may.”

In general, he doesn’t care who is elected. Hodgkinson said he sleeps good knowing he chose the best person, even if they didn’t win.

“This is not Vegas,” he said. “We’re not there to hit the jackpot. We’re voting to pick the best person for the job.”