TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach stepped aside from his duties as the state's top elections official Friday until his hotly contested Republican primary challenge to Gov. Jeff Colyer is resolved, but Colyer argued that Kobach still has a conflict of interest because Kobach is handing his responsibilities to his top deputy.

Kobach rejected Colyer's accusations that the advice he has been giving local elections on handling ballots violates state law. And the secretary of state — who has boosted his career by extrapolating scattered cases of election irregularities into c...