THOMASVILLE, Ga. — A candidate for the state’s secretary of state office says he wants to help people pursue their economic dreams by cutting through bureaucratic red tape.

Josh McKoon, one of four Republican hopefuls for the statewide office, spoke to Thomas County Republicans on Tuesday, laying out his case for the upcoming primary.

“I know this office, both from my time in the General Assembly and as an attorney,” he said.

McKoon, a state senator from Columbus, said he wants to reform Georgia’s business licensing process. The secretary of state’s office oversees such matters as elections, corporation registrations and professional licensing. Those licensings ran the gamut from nursing to hairdressing to interior designers.

“We’ve got to get government out of the way and let people pursue the American dream,” he said.

There also is a backlog in the handling of complaints against those holding state licenses. McKoon said it takes an average of 400 days to hear complaints against nurses, for instance, meaning either that nurse still may be harming others or, in the case of a complaint that is dismissed, the long wait could harm that nurse’s reputation.

McKoon said it’s also important for the next secretary of state — current officeholder Brian Kemp is running for governor — to have a background in elections law. He pointed to the contested 2000 presidential election in Florida as a watershed moment.

McKoon said protecting the sanctity of ballots also should reach to absentee votes. While IDs are required for early voting and election day voting, there are no such checks for absentee ballots. As an example, he cited a case in Columbus where a woman brought in 19 absentee ballots from a nursing home. When the local elections board decided to look into the ballots, they found 15 of those people were not well enough to either make their mark or sign their name, and the woman who brought in the ballots was not charged in the incident.

“We have to tighten up that process,” McKoon said.

McKoon’s platform includes preventing illegal aliens from voting and requiring a photo identification for each vote cast. He said it costs Gwinnett County, the state’s second-most populous county, $750,000 a year to print ballots in languages other than English and to provide translators at polling places. McKoon contended that the test to become a U.S. citizen is in English.

The state has issued 48,000 drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens here on deferred action, McKoon said, and now that voter registration can be accomplished with getting a driver’s license. “We’ve created a situation where someone who is not a citizen can be registered to vote,” he added.

The licenses to those who are not citizens have Limited Term printed on them, and McKoon said he has tried for the last four years to get the General Assembly to make those licenses look different.

McKoon said if he is elected, anyone with a limited term license who is also on the voter rolls will be purged from the voter rolls.

McKoon boasts the backing of several of the state Senate’s leaders, including president pro tem Butch Miller and majority leader Bill Cowsert.

“It’s important to have good relationships with the Senate,” McKoon said.

McKoon also highlighted his push for ethics reform and openness during his time in the state Senate. When he joined the General Assembly in 2011, there was no cap on gifts to state lawmakers. McKoon said he fought for years to establish a limit on the gifts, such as trips and tickets to sporting events, lobbyists and other groups could furnish to legislators.

“We were one of three states that had no limits on gifts to state lawmakers,” he said. “It took us three years to fix this.”

While there are three candidates on the Democrats’ side for the office, the presumptive leader is former U.S. Rep. John Barrow. Barrow, who now lives in Athens, was the 12th District Congressman for 10 years. McKoon said Barrow will get the full weight of the Democratic Party machine behind him.

“You need to put somebody who is your A player up against John Barrow,” he said.