After years of hearing Secretary of State Kris Kobach complain about the state’s lack of prosecutions for voter fraud, most Kansans probably were expecting a more dramatic start to the secretary’s own prosecution efforts.

Having obtained the authority earlier this year to prosecute such cases on his own, Kobach kicked off his anti-fraud campaign last week by filing charges against three people who allegedly voted both in Kansas and another state during the same election cycle. All three people apparently are U.S. citizens, so the prosecution has nothing to do with the state’s new proof-of citizenship law.

It’s a matter of people either mistakenly or intentionally voting in two different states in a single election. Either way, according to the law, they have committed a crime, and Kansas is now seeking to hold them accountable.

The most serious charges in Kobach’s first round of prosecutions were filed against 64-year-old Lincoln Wilson, who lives in Sherman County, which borders Colorado. Wilson is charged with “voting without being qualified,” a misdemeanor, and “election perjury,” a felony, because he voted in both Kansas and Colorado in the 2010 general election, the 2012 primary and the 2014 general election. When notified of the charges, Wilson said he maintained residences both in Sherman County and in Yuma County, Colo., and thought he was entitled to participate in elections in both states as long as he only cast one ballot in each county.

That, of course, is wrong, and whether his actions were innocent or malicious, he did something illegal. However, some Kansans may wonder whether his actions warrant a felony prosecution.

The other case involved misdemeanor “voting without being qualified” charges against a couple who listed an Olathe address when they voted in the 2010 general election. According to the charges, Betty Gaedtke, 61, and Steven Gaedtke, 60, also cast ballots in Arkansas during that same election. The Gaedtkes, who apparently now reside in Arkansas, haven’t responded publicly to the charges.

It’s surprising that Kobach would choose to begin his anti-fraud prosecutions with these three cases, rather than more egregious cases of non-citizens attempting to vote — a situation he claims poses a real threat to the integrity of Kansas elections. In announcing the charges, Kobach said, “These were the first out the door. We expect to file more cases in the next few months.” It will be interesting to see how many and what type of cases those will be.