Three identical objections were filed today claiming that U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts should not be allowed to be a candidate for re-election because he does not live in Kansas.

That will trigger a meeting of the state Objections Board, but it’s probably unlikely that board will remove Roberts from the ballot. That’s because the board is composed of Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Attorney General Derek Schmidt, all Republicans who have formally endorsed Roberts for re-election.

Roberts faces a Tea Party challenge this year from Dr. Milton Wolf, a Johnson County radiologist, who has made Roberts’ residency a central issue in his campaign.

In February, the New York Times reported that Roberts is using the Dodge City home of two longtime supporters and donors as his voting address.

The objections were filed by Christine A. Tawney of Manhattan, Chuck Henderson of Manhattan, and Sylvia and Tom Nichols of Leonardville.

Article 1, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution requires that senators be an inhabitant of the state from which they are chosen at the time they are elected. There are no state laws in Kansas that impose additional requirements beyond that, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

Samantha Poetter, an assistant in Kobach’s office, said that under state law, the Objections Board will have to meet to rule on the complaint, but the board hasn’t set a date for that meeting.