The special election for the congressional seat formerly held by new CIA Director Mike Pompeo has added urgency to pending court decisions in multiple federal lawsuits challenging restrictive voter registration requirements in Kansas. Gov. Sam Brownback has called an April 11 special election to fill the 4th District seat, which represents southern Kansas. Preliminary court orders allowed Kansans who registered using a federal form or at motor vehicle offices to vote in the November election even if they didn’t conform to a disputed Kansas requirement to provide documentary proof of citizenship to vote, such as a birth certificate, naturalization papers or a passport.
That affects some 3,178 voters in the 4th District who either registered at motor vehicle offices or with a federal form without providing proof of citizenship, said Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman. Another 1,450 who used the state form to register, but did not provide citizenship documents, will not be allowed to vote unless they provide the documentation.
The 4th congressional district has nearly 427,000 registered voters, including those covered by the court decisions.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas said it believes the federal injunctions remain in effect for the special election as well.
Full Article: Kansas special election adds urgency to pending court cases / LJWorld.com.