In this file photo from November 2014, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach testifies during a meeting of a legislative study committee on election issues.

Topeka ? A Lawrence Democrat running for a seat in the Kansas House has submitted petitions to summon a grand jury to investigate allegations that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office has been mishandling citizenship documents that are submitted to his office electronically, thus preventing qualified citizens from registering to vote.

Steven X. Davis, who is challenging Rep. Barbara Ballard in the Democratic primary in the 44th District, invoked a state law Wednesday that allows citizens to summon a grand jury by petition.

In a statement Wednesday, Davis said people who try to register to vote online do so through a website operated by the Kansas Department of Revenue, in conjunction with the secretary of state’s office. There, they can upload scanned images of their birth certificate, passport or other documentary proof of citizenship that Kansas requires in order to register.

Those images are then supposed to be forwarded to county election offices to complete the person’s voter registration.

“However, there have been rumors that the applications and documents have been disappearing before reaching the county election officers, and a grand jury will be able to conduct an official criminal investigation into these allegations,” Davis’ statement said.

He said that if Kobach and officials in his office were aware of the problem and refused to fix it, “they should be held legally responsible for the suppression of voter registrations.”

Craig McCullah, a spokesman in Kobach’s office, said he was not aware of any voters whose documents have been lost or of anyone who has complained about such a problem.

“This was a shock to all of us,” McCullah said.

Davis said he collected 1,030 signatures on the petition, more than enough to meet the legal threshold for calling a grand jury.

If those signatures are verified, the Douglas County District Court will be required to empanel a grand jury within 60 days.