Topeka ? Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s position as chief Kansas elections officer is allowing him to play a marquee role in the political drama surrounding Democrat Chad Taylor’s attempt to get off the ballot in the U.S. Senate race.

Taylor ended his campaign last week, nudged out of the race against three-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts by Democrats who viewed independent candidate Greg Orman as the stronger rival and wanted to consolidate most of the anti-Roberts vote behind Orman. The stakes are high: The GOP hopes to recapture control of the Senate, and those efforts would be hindered by a Roberts loss.

Kobach, a conservative Republican and a member of Roberts’ honorary campaign committee, has faced a torrent of negative reviews for refusing to remove Taylor’s name from the ballot and for concluding the Democrat didn’t comply with a state law limiting when candidates can withdraw. The decision has Kobach’s political opponents adding new chapters to their existing narratives about how, in their view, he’s mishandled his official duties.

But those official duties made Kobach — or any secretary of state — an administrative gatekeeper for Taylor or any other nominee seeking to get off the ballot. He couldn’t avoid coming on stage.

“This is at the core of the secretary of state’s responsibilities,” Kobach said. “The Kansas statutes detail numerous points in the elections process where the secretary of state has to exercise discretionary judgment and say, ‘Yes, this is good enough’ or ‘No, it’s not.'”

Taylor filed a petition asking the Kansas Supreme Court to order Kobach to take Taylor’s name off the Nov. 4 ballot. The justices plan to hear the case Tuesday and are expected to rule by the end of the week — when the state must start sending ballots to overseas military personnel.

Kobach’s decision to keep Taylor’s name on the ballot is reminding voters of how much he’s pulled the secretary of state’s office from the state’s political background.

When he won the office in 2010, he already had a national reputation as a law professor for helping officials in other states draft laws for cracking down on illegal immigration, particularly get-tough policies in Alabama and Arizona. In Kansas, he’s jumped into debates over gun rights, the federal health care overhaul and even resistance to potential federal restrictions on farming, ranching and energy production to protect the lesser prairie chicken. In filing for re-election, he described himself as “a guardian of state sovereignty.”

Critics have accused him of not being focused on the secretary of state’s duties and of spending too much time outside the office. Former state Sen. Jean Schodorf, his Democratic challenger in his re-election race, accused him last week of “dereliction of duty” because he wasn’t physically present when Taylor delivered his formal letter of withdrawal and interacted with Kobach’s staff.

“We are all tired of the embarrassment that comes from Kris Kobach, who chooses to engage in his personal agenda outside of the office rather than serve the needs of the state,” Schodorf said in a statement. “Where was Kris Kobach?”

Kobach also has faced criticism over issues directly related to his duties. He is the architect of a law requiring new voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering, and he pushed it through the Legislature — with Schodorf voting for it — as a way of preventing non-citizens, particularly immigrants in the U.S. illegally, from voting. However, the most visible result is that more than 21,000 prospective voters have their registrations on hold because they haven’t complied.

“Kobach is abusing the office yet again,” said Sulma Arias, executive director of the Wichita-based activist group Kansas People’s Action.

A 1997 state law says nominees’ names can be removed from the ballot only if they die or if they declare in writing that they are “incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected.” The secretary of state makes such administrative decisions under Kansas law and must certify an official list of candidates for county election officials to use in printing ballots.

Taylor’s formal withdrawal letter cited the law by its statute number but did not use such language, and he’s never explained publicly why he ended his campaign. Therefore, Kobach says, he didn’t properly withdraw.

“I think his reading of the law is the correct reading,” said Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a fellow Republican and Roberts supporter whose office consulted with Kobach’s.

Taylor said in a sworn statement that he was assured by the director of Kobach’s elections division that his letter was sufficient. The same official contradicted Taylor in his own affidavit. Kobach declined to discuss where he was on the afternoon of Sept. 3, when Taylor came to the secretary of state’s office to submit his letter, citing Taylor’s litigation.

“The law is very clear, and this is the secretary’s duty, to enforce the law,” Kobach said.

There is plenty of disagreement about Kobach’s actions regarding Taylor, but there’s no dispute that the secretary of state was destined to have a role in determining whether the Democrat stayed on the ballot.