Olathe ? An Olathe Air Force veteran and his wife who are facing voter fraud charges made a voting error while they were involved in a move to Arkansas, their lawyer said.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office recently filed three voter fraud cases. Steven Gaedtke, 60, and his wife, Betty Gaedtke, 61, were charged in Johnson County with misdemeanors for allegedly casting 2010 general election ballots in Kansas and Arkansas. Kobach’s office also filed a case against a Sherman County man for allegedly voting in both Kansas and Colorado.

The cases were the first to be filed under a new state law giving Kobach the power to prosecute election fraud allegations.

Trey Pettlon, a lawyer representing the Gaedtkes, told The Kansas City Star Wednesday that the Gaedtkes applied for advance voting ballots in Johnson County for the 2010 general election and submitted them while they were traveling back and forth over several months from Olathe to a home in Arkansas. During that time, they voted in person in Arkansas.

“It was a stressful time for them and in the confusion they made a mistake,” Pettlon said. “They weren’t stuffing ballot boxes or anything.”

He also said the 2010 election was not a presidential election year, so the Gaedtkes weren’t voting twice for the same candidates.

Steven Gaedtke, a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force, and Betty Gaedtke, who volunteers as a domestic violence educator, have “a long track record of being good citizens,” Pettlon said.

Kobach’s office declined comment Thursday.

A court date for the Gaedtkes was set for Dec. 3.