Clinton, Kobach spar over ‘purging’ voters

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton weighed in on Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s plan to throw out any incomplete voter-registration forms after 90 days. Nearly 34,500 names were on the suspended-voter list as of last week, mostly because applicants failed to provide proof-of-citizenship documents when they tried to register. Kobach describes the change as “a commonsense administrative rule.” But Clinton’s campaign tweeted this week that “purging 34,000+ voters from Kansas elections is no administrative rule – it’s a targeted attack on voting rights.” Kobach responded on Facebook that the would-be voters are “not being ‘purged’ as the left-wing knuckleheads claim.” Rather, he said, they will just have to fill out the form again. “Oh, the horror!” Kobach added, snarkily. “Hillary is getting her pantsuit in a twist over nothing.” A public hearing on the rule change is set for Sept. 2, but Kobach has the power to implement the change regardless of any objections, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. And Kobach has made clear what he thinks of “knuckleheads” who disagree with him. – Phillip Brownlee