World
Pat Proctor explains perils to election integrity ahead of Kansas Secretary race: ‘Insulting to let anybody walk in and wield political power’
By: Hindustan Times World
Published: 24 October 2026
Photo / Illustration: Haldwani Times News Desk
<p>Pat Proctor has been representing Kansas District 41. Now, the Republican is running for Secretary of State, and will face Democrat challenger Jennifer Day. Ahead of the November 3 elections, Proctor spoke exclusively to HT.com about his views on election integrity, and the many reported controversies on the lawmaker.</p>
<p>Pat Proctor, Republican representing Kansas District 41, is now running for Secretary of State. (Facebook/Pat Proctor)Election integrity has been on Proctor's mind for a long time, as he explained that his interest started from the time he was put on the elections committee as a lawmaker. He recalled one specific day where he was learning about elections, and that day turned out to be January 6, 2021. The events in Washington DC convinced Proctor even more that restoring public faith in elections was the need of the hour, the GOP candidate told HT.com.</p>
<p>A lot of it has to do with Proctor's military experience, the politician explained. Proctor, a retired US army colonel, has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places. According to Proctor the problem in these places, where he served, was that people didn't ‘believe in the ballot box to solve their problems’ and it's not a situation the former military man wanted for the US.</p>
<p>Proctor noted that he went on to become the chairman of the elections committee, while he was in legislature. With Scott Schwab running for Governor, Proctor is now running for the Secretary of State. “I felt like it was very important that we have somebody in that office who is focused, really understands elections, and is focused on restoring confidence and bringing people back,” Proctor said explaining his motivation behind running for the post.</p>
<p>However, Proctor's path is not without its set of controversies.</p>
<p>The Kansas Reflector in a February 2026 opinion piece noted that Proctor had been accused of trying to create conditions that favor GOP candidates. Another article by the publication from March 2026 noted that Proctor had used antisemitic remarks when referring to George Soros.</p>
<p>Proctor, unperturbed, clubbed the newspaper with the ACLU and League of Women Voters, dubbing them ‘the axis of ballot harvesting’. He repeated the allegation that The Kansas Reflector received funds from George Soros, among others. The publication has clearly stated that it neither directly nor indirectly received any funding from Soros.</p>
<p>Notably, Proctor had asked AG Kobach to investigate the League of Women Voters over handing out Starbucks gift cards to students registering to vote. The AG accordingly directed them to stop, When asked, Proctor said a quid pro quo relation like this was tantamount to bribery. However, the Republican opined that the $5000 cheques Trump has promised if their party wins the midterms is significantly different.</p>
<p>Proctor also expressed fears that with a Democrat Secretary of State there might be unchecked non citizen voting and mail in ballots, pointing to Colorado and Michigan. “Those used to be red states, then they got a Democrat Secretary of State and they totally dismantled their election systems, so I am running to stop that in Kansas,” Proctor declared.</p>
<p>Proctor expressed concerns about non citizen voting. The Kansas City Star reported in October 2026 that a coordinated effort by Attorney General Kris Kobach and Secretary of State Scott Schwab found four prosecutable cases of non-citizen voting, and ‘over 15 cases’ which did not lead to prosecutions due to mitigating factors.</p>
<p>However, as per Proctor the issue is with the very wording of the constitution. “It said every citizen can vote…in the state of California, Vermont, and Maryland they have the exact same language in the constitution and they allow non-citizens to vote,” Proctor said.</p>
<p>The amendment to change the language has been sponsored by Proctor and is up for ballot again in November, after it was shot down in August. The Republican wants the language changed to ‘only citizens’ instead of ‘every citizen’ arguing that the constitution assumes you'd have to be a citizen first to fulfil the criteria to vote.</p>
<p>“I've been accused of being racist, and anti-immigrant for passing this law and for fighting this,” Proctor noted. He then shared the example of his wife, Aree, who he said came from Thailand and passed through the necessary hoops to become an American citizen. “It is to me insulting that in this country we would just allow anybody to walk in and start wielding political power, whether they are citizens or not…I think it's a slap in the face of every naturalized citizen,” Proctor stated.</p>
<p>Taking shots at his political opponent, Proctor said that Day told people it's unfortunate non-citizens cannot vote in the state. Notably, Day has also stated election security is one of her key focus areas as the Democrat challenger to the Secretary of State seat.</p>
<p>The Republican further highlighted issues like dead people being on the voter roll and the need for constant updating, while expressing fears about election theft. When asked about if he believed the 2020 elections were stolen, an often-repeated statement by President Donald Trump, Proctor replied “I am convinced that the results of the elections in 2020, in the state of Kansas reflected the will of Kansas voters.”</p>
<p>He went on to explain that a lot of laws he tried to get passed, was met with skepticism of there being no evidence errors with the election system. Drawing on his military past, Proctor said his job was to prevent a mishap, and not react to it, defending his stance on election integrity.</p>
<p>If he were Secretary of State, Proctor would like to see drivers' licenses state whether one is a citizen or not. He also noted that streamlining processes to find out which voters had passed away, to update the voter rolls, was something Proctor would like to see. In an unconventional move, the Republican proposed sharing voter rolls with credit rating agencies so they could mark out those who'd passed away.</p>
<p>Proctor also noted a list of changes to the business division he'd like to see as Secretary of the State. His core principle is that the government's duty is to inform people of the laws they expect business owners to adhere to. Proctor laid out a vision of an AI-assisted site that would tell businesses which forms they needed to fill out and have a clickable link for the same. The GOP candidate also proposed that due to some site-end glitch if a form did not show up for the business-owner, then the government should not put a fine on that.</p>
<p>Proctor mentioned his restaurant chain, Baan Thai Restaurant Inc, in this context. He spoke about paying more than minimum wage, but dispersing payments on a monthly basis, rather than hourly. This came amid reports of him being fined $93,000 for failing to comply with federal wage and overtime laws.</p>
<p>Before signing off, Proctor shared a message with his voters. “What makes you a part of the US is that you swear to certain principles; you swear that we are all equal under the law…but we are all so different, and that's never worked before. The reason it works is because our founders found the secret sauce – a social contract – that every couple of years we are going to get together and decide who's in charge. And if you don't like that, you can come back in a couple of years and choose somebody else. If we lose faith in that, or confidence in that as a nation, we are not going to have another 250 years. We won't have another 50 years,” Proctor said. He brought up examples of the Charlie Kirk shooting and the attempt on Trump's life at the WHCA dinner, saying that people were turning to guns rather than the electoral system to find a solution. Proctor placed himself as a defender against this corrosion in the US.</p>
<p>Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More</p>
