Haven’t registered to vote yet? Do it by Tuesday to participate in the Aug. 7 primary

If you aren’t registered to vote, your last chance to register before the Kansas primary election is Tuesday, July 17.

You need to be registered with a particular party to vote in the Aug. 7 primary. Unaffiliated voters can choose a party at the polls or online at any time. People already affiliated with a party who want to change should have done so by June 1.

You can check your registration and polling place at www.voteks.org. You can also register to vote and see an example of your ballot at www.vote411.org, a website launched by the League of Women Voters.

Early voting begins on July 31.

It’s not clear whether more people have registered to vote since a federal judge struck down part of Kansas’ voter law requiring people to show proof of citizenship. Some hoped there would be an increase since registration now only requires people to write their name and address and mark that they are a citizen.

Ethan Corson, executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party, said they’ve seen an increase in registrations. Much of the increase came before the June ruling, he said, since there was already an injunction against the law.

“This ruling actually just provided more clarification and finality around what the law was,” Corson said. “The court ruling was a big win for the elderly, the poor and minorities, because all of these hurdles for registration disproportionately affect these populations.”

Supporters of the law have pointed to increasing voter registration numbers to show that the law is not keeping qualified Kansans from voting. Opponents said it targeted people more likely to vote for Democrats, including racial and ethnic minorities.

Jim Joice, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, said while the party is disappointed with the ruling, they’re not concerned that it will have a negative impact on Republicans in the election.

“We’re pretty confident that we’ll be able to turn out our folks and get some good wins in November,” he said.

Some speculated that more minority voters would be able to register after the law was struck down, but whether that happened is hard to say, since Kansas doesn’t track voters’ race or ethnicity, said Tabitha Lehman, Sedgwick County election commissioner.

Registrations in Sedgwick County were down over July 1-9 from the same period in 2014.

Teresa Briggs, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Kansas, said they will compile data on registrations statewide to see if there has been an impact.

The League of Women Voters has clashed for the past five years with the Kansas law that required proof of citizenship to register.

Briggs said she thinks more people will try to register now that they know they won’t need documents such as a birth certificate or a passport. Since Kobach’s office is expected to appeal the ruling, the League of Women Voters is still using federal forms (which require an affirmation of citizenship but no documentation) to register voters.

Voters still must show government-issued ID when they actually cast their vote.

This story was originally published July 14, 2018 at 12:31 AM.