Local voters added to rolls

At least officials are using vital statistics data to green-light some of the thousands of Kansas voter registrations stalled for lack of proof of U.S. citizenship.

The step comes as more than 31,000 incomplete registrations are being canceled after 90 days statewide under a new rule made by Secretary of State Kris Kobach. More than 1,700 prospective Sedgwick County voters were matched with state birth records. Unless their applications are missing something else, such as a signature, their registrations should be considered final. The effort by Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman, a Kobach appointee, and her staff is much appreciated, though it still leaves the registrations of some 6,000 other county residents vulnerable to being purged in the coming days.

Having elections officials research records raises new questions. If the state can verify citizenship on its own, did it need a law putting the burden of proof on prospective voters? Why is it fair to spare only some people the bother or expense of supplying their own birth certificate, passport or other documentation, and to treat native Kansans differently from prospective Kansas voters who were born elsewhere? And it seems as if how incomplete registrations are handled depends on where you live. Douglas County, for example, is following local legal advice to restart the 90-day clock rather than make the purging rule retroactive.

But after so many have tried to register since 2013 only to be ensnared in the oversize trap Kobach set to catch all the noncitizens he still claims are clamoring to vote in Kansas, it’s a relief to see him doing something to boost the voter rolls.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Local voters added to rolls."