The Latest: Kansas governor sets up vote ‘integrity’ hotline

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the close and unresolved Republican primary race in Kansas between Gov. Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach (all times local):

2:50 p.m.

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer’s campaign has set up a “voting integrity” telephone hotline as his close Republican primary race with Secretary of State Kris Kobach remains unsettled.

Colyer’s campaign announced the hotline Thursday. Spokesman Kendall Marr said it had received “countless” reports of voters experiencing issues at the polls.

Kobach is the state’s chief elections officers and told reporters Wednesday that he knew of no reports of irregularities outside of a long delay in the reporting of results from the state’s most populous county because of issues with its new machines.

Colyer’s campaign announced the new hotline as election officials confirmed that a mistake shorted Colyer’s vote total for another county in the state’s results by 100 votes.

The discovery of the mistake cut Kobach’s lead to 91 votes.

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1:42 p.m.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s lead over Gov. Jeff Colyer in the Republican primary has been cut by more than half after election officials discovered a mistake in the listing for one county’s results in the state’s tally.

The mistake means Kobach’s lead has fallen to only 91 votes from 191 when final results were reported after Tuesday’s primary.

Final, unofficial results on the secretary of state’s website show Kobach winning Thomas County in northwest Kansas with 466 votes to Colyer’s 422.

But the tally posted by the Thomas County clerk shows Colyer with 522 votes. Clerk Shelly Harms confirmed the figure Thursday to The Associated Press.

State elections director Bryan Caskey said the county pointed out the discrepancy Thursday following a routine post-election check of numbers.

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