Local officials must identify Kansas voters affected by ruling

Kansas county election offices are sorting through thousands of records to identify voters affected by a recent federal court order, according to Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit blocked Kansas and two other states from requiring proof of citizenship from people who register to vote using the federal form.

Kobach said the state’s voter database does not differentiate between people who register with the federal form and the state form, so local election officers will have to physically go through paper records of people who tried to register since January to determine which voters were affected by the ruling.

He estimated the number of people affected would be between 200 and 400 statewide.

The state began requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, when they register to vote in 2013. Before this year, federal form registrants were allowed to cast ballots in federal elections regardless of whether they provided proof of citizenship.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission decided in late January to allow Kansas, Georgia and Alabama to require proof of citizenship with the federal form. The League of Women Voters challenged the rule in court, prompting Friday’s order, which will allow these voters to participate in this year’s presidential election.

A separate case remains pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. That case concerns whether the state can require people who register at the DMV to provide proof of citizenship.

Kobach, who has represented the state in both cases, took the position that Friday’s court order extends only to federal elections and that federal form registrants will still be barred from participating in state and local races unless they provide proof of citizenship.

A case pending in Shawnee County could change that and enable these voters to participate in state and local races as well. Judge Larry Hendricks will hear arguments in that case next week.

Kobach said he is not optimistic about his chances in Hendricks’ courtroom. based on the judge’s previous decision to allow DMV registrants who had not provided proof of citizenship to vote in the August primary.

The Kansas Democratic Party criticized Kobach’s efforts to defend the policy Wednesday in a news release.

“Though he continues losing cases and appeals, Kobach uses state money to fund the court costs each time he appears. Kansas flounders in terrible fiscal condition while the Secretary of State wastes taxpayer’s money in an ongoing, losing battle,” the party e-mail said.

The e-mail went on to say that the “ever-changing constraints create large-scale confusion for Kansas voters, both in the registration and voting process.”

Kobach, a Republican, shrugged off the criticism.

“The Democrat Party of Kansas has been using me as a fundraising tool for several years now,” he said.

He noted that a majority of Democrats in the Legislature voted in favor of the proof of citizenship policy and suggested that the party “send the same letter to its own members.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2016 at 7:49 AM with the headline "Local officials must identify Kansas voters affected by ruling."