Black leaders in Kansas call for Election Day voter registration

African-American leaders in Kansas want the state to allow people to register to vote on Election Day.

The proposal included in the Kansas Black Leadership Council’s 2016 legislative agenda is a response to the state’s requirement that people provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, in order to register to vote. People who do not do so when they try to register at the DMV, for example, are placed in suspended status until they provide documention.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia use same-day registration, according to Demos, a New York-based organization that promotes election reforms.

“It’s that second step, going back and turning in your proof of citizenship, that hangs people up,” said Bonita Gooch, the council’s president, in a statement. “However, on Election Day, motivated to vote, if they can get out their ID, proof of citizenship and show up at the poll, that extra step has been eliminated.”

Gooch said this would be a way for the state to both address concerns about voter fraud, which prompted the citizenship requirement, and also concerns that the requirement has made it tougher to vote.

The group is officially nonpartisan. Gooch is the aunt of the executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party, Kerry Gooch. She emphasized in a phone call that members of both political parties belong to the group.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who championed the proof-of-citizenship requirement and is a former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, said he strongly opposes same-day registration.

“It is a recipe for voter fraud,” Kobach said. “Because our polling places are not connected electronically, it makes it possible for a person to show up at polling place No. 1, register and cast a vote, then show up at polling place No. 2, register and cast a vote, and then show up at polling place No. 3, register and cast a vote. And there is no way to retrieve those duplicate votes once they are cast.”

The state’s current law that voters must register at least 21 days before the election makes it possible for local election officials to process applications and check for proof of citizenship, Kobach said.

Bills to create Election Day registration are expected to be introduced in both the Kansas House and Senate next session. Rep. Gail Finney and Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, Democrats from Wichita, are members of the council.

The proof-of-citizenship requirement faces a challenge in federal court. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4 in Kansas City, Kan.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Black leaders in Kansas call for Election Day voter registration."