Kris W. Kobach is the
current Secretary of State of Kansas and will be
speaking at the RNLA National Election Seminar in Chicago. He was elected by a wide margin on a platform focused primarily
on stopping voter fraud. With that goal in mind, he began his term by
introducing the Secure and Fair Elections (SAFE) Act in the Kansas House of
Representatives. The Act was adopted by both houses of the Kansas legislature
on March 29, 2011 by wide margins with bipartisan support. Governor Brownback
signed the SAFE Act on April 18, 2011.
Prior to his election as
Secretary of State, Secretary Kobach was a Professor of Constitutional Law at
the University of Missouri – Kansas City from 1996 to 2011. Additionally, he is
a nationally renowned litigator who represents US citizens, cities, and states
in cases involving illegal immigration across the country.
Secretary Kobach is
a native of Topeka, Kansas. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree with
highest distinction from Harvard University in 1988, graduating at the top of
his class in the Harvard Government Department. In 1988, the British government
awarded him a Marshall Scholarship, which took him to England for post-graduate
study. In 1992, he received his doctorate in Political Science from Oxford
University. In 1995, he received his Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School, where
he served as notes development editor on the Yale Law Journal.
Secretary Kobach was
admitted to the Kansas Bar in 1995 and served as a law clerk to Judge Deanell
Reece Tacha of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in 1995
and 1996. By that time, he had already published two books: The Referendum:
Direct Democracy in Switzerland (Dartmouth, 1993), and Political Capital: The
Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa
(University Press of America, 1990). He has also published numerous scholarly
articles on elections, political science, constitutional law, and immigration
law.
In 2001, Secretary Kobach
was awarded a White House Fellowship, where he worked for the Bush Administration
in the office of United States Attorney General John Ashcroft. Secretary Kobach
served as the Attorney General's chief advisor on immigration law and border
security. After his fellowship year ended, the Attorney General appointed
Kobach as his Counsel. Following the September 11th attacks, Secretary Kobach
was put in charge of Department of Justice efforts to prevent terrorists from
exploiting gaps in U.S. immigration controls. He led the team that designed and
implemented the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which
registers and fingerprints high-risk visitors to the United States. Within its
first year of operation, the registration system resulted in the apprehension
of numerous suspected terrorists. Secretary Kobach also led Department of
Justice reforms of the immigration court system, resulting in the reshaping of
the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002.
The RNLA is excited to have
Secretary Kobach speak at the National Election Law Seminar this year.
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