Making it easier and harder to vote

Four days after a voting-rights expert in Wichita said same-day registration is a boon to voter turnout, President Donald Trump’s commission looking at election integrity will hear a proposal that would require citizens have a background check before being registered to vote.

Doesn’t seem like both of those could happen, does it?

Could the issue be more polarizing? On one side, same-day registration advocates wouldn’t require a citizen to register, theoretically, until minutes remained before the polls closed. On the other side, advocates for background checks would require a would-be voter to start the registration process weeks before election day.

Both seem like long shots in Kansas. Already in place are requirements to prove citizenship before a resident can register to vote, making same-day registration nearly impossible even though 16 states and the District of Columbia have it.

Background checks would be seen by voter-suppression critics as another way to discourage residents from making an effort to register.

This story was originally published September 11, 2017 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Making it easier and harder to vote."