Kansas: State faces a voting rights debacle | Kansas City Star

Kansas officialdom is strangely blasé about the growing number of voters in “suspended” status, meaning they have filled out registration forms but won’t be able to cast an official ballot unless they provide proof of U.S. citizenship. The numbers are approaching 15,000, and the American Civil Liberties Union has notified officials of a possible lawsuit. Kansas risks notoriety as a voter suppression state. But Gov. Sam Brownback, when asked about the problem, said voting is the secretary of state’s responsibility. Brownback’s Department of Revenue, which runs the vehicle offices where citizens can also register to vote, says it doesn’t plan to change its procedures, even as voter experiences suggest the procedures might be part of the problem.

Kansas: ACLU notifies Kobach of intention to file voting rights lawsuit | LJWorld.com

The American Civil Liberties Union today notified Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach that it will file a lawsuit in 90 days if the state doesn’t address the issue of approximately 14,000 voter registration applications that are in limbo. “Kansans are simply trying to exercise their constitutional right to vote,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “This is the most fundamental freedom we have as Americans, yet Secretary of State Kobach is blocking thousands upon thousands of Kansans from their rightful participation in the political process. This is un-American, unconstitutional and must end immediately.” The dispute is over thousands of voter registration applications in Kansas since January when a new state law took effect that requires new registrations to include proof of U.S. citizenship with a document such as a birth certificate or passport.

CLU letter to Kobach ( .PDF )

Kansas: Brownback hesitant to weigh in on voter registration problems | Lawrence Journal-World

Gov. Sam Brownback on Monday didn’t seem to want to get involved in the controversy over the 13,000 Kansans whose voter registrations are up in the air. When asked about it, Brownback, a Republican, referred to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, also a Republican. “It’s in the secretary of state’s purview,” Brownback said. Brownback acknowledged an interest in the voting booth being “open for people.” “We’ll watch and review the process as it’s coming forward, but there is a constitutional officer that’s in charge of that.” Again, that’s a reference to Kobach.

Kansas: Democrats want to take stab at amending proof-of-citizenship voter registration law | Wichita Eagle

As the state Legislature prepares for a special session to rewrite an unconstitutional criminal-sentencing law, Wichita Democrats are planning to reopen the debate over a voter proof-of-citizenship law they maintain is equally unconstitutional. Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who wrote the law requiring new voters to provide citizenship documents, said he thinks it would withstand court scrutiny, unlike an Arizona law that recently was overturned by the Supreme Court. And even if it didn’t, Kansas could create two classes of voters: those who provide the proof required by state law and could vote in all elections and those who don’t and who would be limited to voting only in congressional and presidential elections, Kobach said.

Kansas: Regulatory board rejects Kris Kobach’s voter registration fix | KansasCity.com

A state regulatory board on Tuesday rejected Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s proposal to allow some 12,000 residents in a suspended state of voter registration to participate in upcoming elections. The change would have allowed residents who have yet to provide proof of citizenship to county election officials to cast provisional ballots in upcoming special elections. Residents would be required to show proof of citizenship before the election was certified.

Kansas: County budget reflects added cost of voter ID laws | Lawrence Journal World

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew is expecting about $32,500 in new costs for running elections next year, largely due to the state’s new voter identification laws. “I did build in some requests for anticipated costs for implementation of the new law,” Shew said. “I added additional temp employees who will be responsible for following up with voters to get documentation, additional printing for additional notices and mailings, and more postage, anticipating a large increase in mailings to voters.” Election officials are preparing for a busy 2014, when there will be races for governor and other statewide elected offices, as well as a U.S. Senate race, congressional races, and elections for the Kansas House of Representatives. The draft budget that county commissioners approved for publication last week includes about $350,000 for the clerk’s office in 2014. That’s an increase of $32,735, or about 10 percent, over the clerk’s budget in 2010, the most recent comparable election year. Most of that increase, Shew said, is related to the cost of implementing the new voter identification rule.

Kansas: Voting rights advocates fear problems with proof of citizenship requirement will mean many lost votes; board rejects Kobach modification | LJWorld.com

A state board today rejected changes to the Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship for newly registered voters as voting rights advocates voiced concerns that thousands of Kansans will be unable to vote because of implementation snags with the new law. Camille Nohe and Maryanna Quilty, both of Topeka and with the League of Women Voters, on Tuesday speak about problems with the law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. “We are putting up a barrier to voting that doesn’t need to be there,” said Maryanna Quilty, president of the League of Women Voters of Shawnee County. The proof-of-citizenship law requires people who register to vote in the state for the first time to provide a birth certificate, passport or other document. But since it went into effect Jan. 1, more than 12,000 people who have attempted to register to vote are in “suspense,” meaning they are not yet qualified to vote.

Kansas: Kobach proposes rule change on proof-of-citizenship requirement to register to vote | Kansas City Kansan

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is proposing a change to the law he pushed through the Legislature that requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. The Kansas proof-of-citizenship law requires people who register to vote in the state for the first time to provide a birth certificate, passport or other document. But since it went into effect Jan. 1, more than 11,000 people who have attempted to register to vote are in “suspense,” meaning they are not yet qualified to vote because of lack of proof of citizenship.

Kansas: Beware Kobach’s lie about Kansas City voter fraud case | Kansas City Star

For an elected Secretary of State who claims he wants to prevent real voter fraud in elections, Kris Kobach sure has a cavalier way of talking about the subject. Or, more bluntly, the Kansas Republican has a way of lying about it. Case in point: In a recent op-ed in the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, Kobach states that he knows “aliens” have been involved in stolen elections. He then cites what he calls two “recent” incidents. His first case, by the way, is from 1997! Let me state the obvious: That’s hardly recent, and hardly any evidence that this kind of “alien” action is going on to subvert U.S. elections. But then comes the untruth from Kobach, reprinted fully here: “Another incident happened in 2010 in Kansas City, Mo. In the state representative race between J.J. Rizzo and Will Royster, the election was stolen when Rizzo received about 50 votes illegally cast by citizens of Somalia. The margin of victory? One vote.” Wow, that’s a big story: Votes were “illegally cast” by Somalis. Let’s go to the court records to find proof for that serious allegation made by a sitting Secretary of State. What’s that? There is no proof?

Kansas: Lawsuit challenges state photo ID election law | Topeka Courier-Journal

A lawsuit challenging Kansas’ law requiring voters to present a picture identification when casting ballots Wednesday was submitted to Shawnee County District Court on behalf of two Osage County men who were blocked last year from having their votes counted. Wichita attorney Jim Lawing filed the case for retirees Arthur Spry and Charles Hamner, both of Overbrook, to contest constitutionality of the voting mandate included in the Secure and Fair Elections Act of 2011, which was written by Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The suit names Kobach as the lone defendant. Hamner and Spry, who didn’t have a government-issued identity card with a photograph proving they were Kansans in good standing, voted with provisional ballots in November 2012. Their ballots weren’t counted because neither subsequently provided sufficient proof of their identity.

Kansas: Lawsuit challenges state photo ID election law | Topeka Capital-Journal

A lawsuit challenging Kansas’ law requiring voters to present a picture identification when casting ballots Wednesday was submitted to Shawnee County District Court on behalf of two Osage County men who were blocked last year from having their votes counted. Wichita attorney Jim Lawing filed the case for retirees Arthur Spry and Charles Hamner, both of Overbrook, to contest constitutionality of the voting mandate included in the Secure and Fair Elections Act of 2011, which was written by Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The suit names Kobach as the lone defendant. Hamner and Spry, who didn’t have a government-issued identity card with a photograph proving they were Kansans in good standing, voted with provisional ballots in November 2012. Their ballots weren’t counted because neither subsequently provided sufficient proof of their identity.

Kansas: One-third of Kansas voter registration applications held up | Kansas City Star

Roughly one-third of all voter registration applications submitted in Kansas since Jan. 1 are in “suspense” because applicants could not provide proof of citizenship, but some say a flawed computer upgrade is responsible for most of the problem. Six months after the state started requiring new voters to prove their citizenship, 11,101 people who attempted to register were considered unqualified to vote because of lack of proof of citizenship, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. During that period, 20,780 have been added to the voter rolls, according to figures provided by the Kansas secretary of state’s office. When people show proof of U.S. citizenship to get a driver’s license in Kansas, the documentation is not making it to election officials for voter registration purposes, said Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew. “There are quite a few in suspense across the state, and we (in Douglas County) are no different than that,” Shew said.

Kansas: Supreme Court ruling on voter I.D. could affect Kansas law | KansasCity.com

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Arizona cannot require voters to document their citizenship before allowing them to cast ballots in federal elections. Arizona voters in 2004 approved Proposition 200, which requires voters to document their citizenship before allowing them to cast ballots in federal elections. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday struck down the law. Rather, the high court said that a 1993 federal law takes precedence. That statute says people may register to vote using a federal form that asks, under penalty of perjury, whether they are U.S. citizens.

Kansas: Local officials oppose election fraud bill | Garden City Telegram

Local lawmakers and prosecutors share concern over pending legislation that if passed, would give Secretary of State Kris Kobach the power to prosecute election fraud cases. Different versions of the bill containing Kobach’s proposal already have been approved by the House and Senate, and there is speculation the final bill will be passed by the Legislature by the end of this week. State Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Lakin, said he is completely against it. “I voted against it in committee. I voted against it every step along the way,” Jennings said.

Kansas: Secretary of State close to expanded power on election fraud | Wichita Eagle

Kansas lawmakers are close to giving Secretary of State Kris Kobach new power he’s sought for his office to investigate and prosecute potential election fraud cases. The Republican secretary of state said Friday that he anticipates a bill expanding his office’s authority passing the GOP-dominated Legislature after its members reconvene next week to wrap up their business for the year. Kobach has sought the power since taking office in January 2011 but has met resistance in the past from Democrats and moderate Republicans. The House and Senate have approved different versions of a bill containing Kobach’s proposal, setting up negotiations over the final version. Legislators end their annual spring break Wednesday. “I’m optimistic that it will get done,” Kobach said.

Kansas: Voters turned away | Hays Daily News

In the April 2 city and school board election, there were 45 people who couldn’t go to the polls in Ellis County. Part of a voter registration law took effect this year — proof of U.S. citizenship for first-time Kansas voters — and they did not complete the registration process to become eligible to vote. The last of the three parts of the Secure and Fair Elections (SAFE) Act, which was drafted by the office of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, took effect Jan. 1. It requires proof of U.S. citizenship for those who register to vote for the first time in the state. If a person attempting to register to vote doesn’t provide a citizenship document upon completion of the application, that person must submit proof to the county election office.

Kansas: Bill shrouding provisional ballots heads to governor | Capital Journal

Four months after Ken Corbet narrowly unseated Ann Mah for the Kansas House 54th District seat, the race continues to reverberate through the halls of the Statehouse and a federal court. Before adjourning until May, the House and Senate passed a bill Friday barring disclosure of information about voters who cast provisional ballots — a bill largely inspired by Mah. Mah, a Democrat, found herself trailing the Republican Corbet by 27 votes out of more than 10,000 cast on election night last November. The race wasn’t over: 104 Shawnee County voters in her district had cast provisional ballots — ballots that had to be reviewed by county canvassers before they could be counted — and there were more 54th District provisional voters in Osage and Douglas Counties. With about 10 days before the canvass, Mah contacted county officials seeking the names of provisional voters so she could contact them. The question of whether she is allowed to do that led to a legal challenge in which Secretary of State Kris Kobach was front and center.

Kansas: Computer problems lead to vote discrepancy | Garden City Telegram

The Finney County Clerk’s office is reporting that a computer system malfunction Tuesday night led to an error in the precinct ballot numbers reported by various media outlets covering the local elections. It also led to confusion for people waiting for results to be posted at the clerk’s office Tuesday night. Election workers who posted the results said they were unofficial, but many observers left with the impression that, other than the normal provisional ballots that are counted when all results are canvassed, there weren’t additional regular ballots to be counted. None of the unofficial winners changed as a result of the error. Election results will be canvassed at 9 a.m. Monday in the Finney County Commission chambers at the County administrative Center, 311 N. Ninth St. County Clerk Elsa Ulrich said the computer problem was discovered Tuesday night after polls closed and the results began to be tallied. Ulrich said a card that contains a program reads ballots as they go through the counting machine. The results are saved to a disk. But for an unknown reason, the card would not read in Ulrich’s card reader.
“Until the card was read, I didn’t know how many ballots were counted at each precinct,” she said. “I insert it into one of my card readers and it drops into a software program. The problem was it wouldn’t go into the software program.”

Kansas: Senate passes bill giving secretary of state extra power but barring him from having PAC | The Republic

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach would get the power he’s sought for his office to prosecute election fraud cases, but he’d also have to shut down his political action committee under legislation approved Thursday by the state Senate. The Senate approved the bill on a 31-9 vote, sending it to the House, where its future is less certain. Kobach, a former constitutional law professor, said he doubts a law prohibiting the secretary of state from having a PAC would be constitutional. But he also said he’s optimistic legislators ultimately will junk the anti-PAC proposal while expanding his office’s authority. “I’m pleased that the Senate intends to get serious about the prosecution of election crimes,” Kobach said during an interview.

Kansas: Secretary of State: Protecting Voter Privacy, or Politics as Usual? | State of Elections

A U.S. District Court ruling handed down Wednesday in Kansas granted disclosure of the names of provisional ballot voters to candidates in a tightly contested state house race, thereby clarifying the scope of voter privacy protection under federal law. The ruling was issued in response to a federal lawsuit filed by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to prevent disclosure of the names. Kobach argued that federal election law protects voters’ identities from disclosure, citing § 302(a) of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA): “Access to information about an individual provisional ballot shall be restricted to the individual who cast the ballot.” U.S. District Court Judge Marten rejected Kobach’s argument, reading the plain text of the statute to protect only disclosure of how someone voted, not the identity of the voter. The day following the election, when unofficial results showed incumbent Democratic Representative Ann Mah of Kansas’ 54th House district trailing her Republican challenger by 27 votes out of a total 10,633 cast, she issued a request for the names of the individuals who had cast provisional ballots in her district. That afternoon, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to prevent disclosure of the names.

Kansas: Kobach pushes for more election changes | CJOnline.com

Secretary of State Kris Kobach says the voter identification requirements that debuted last year were a resounding success and legislators can move on to more changes, such as consolidating local and state elections. But House Democrats, led by freshman Rep. John Alcala, D-Topeka, say not so fast. Alcala, a former Topeka City Council member, said he is alarmed by a bill to move local spring elections to November and Kobach’s ideas to streamline the hefty ballots that would cause. “I have serious concerns about moving spring elections to the fall, and I also have concerns about switching to at-large elections,” Alcala said.

Kansas: Voting rights takes center stage at legislative forum | Wichita Eagle

The state’s voter identification law came under fire Tuesday night at a legislative forum where ordinary citizens got a chance to tell lawmakers what they want from the session that begins next week. The open-mike session drew a crowd of about 100, about 40 of whom chose to speak on a variety of issues ranging from abortion to fluoridated water to police brutality. But the 25 lawmakers who attended the forum heard the most about dissatisfaction with the voting law they passed in 2011 at the request of Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Kobach contends that photo ID and proof of citizenship are necessary to prevent voter fraud by immigrants legal and illegal. But resident Bryan Mann told the lawmakers that the real purpose of the voter ID law is to suppress Democratic-leaning voter groups – especially minorities and the elderly – to cement Republican domination of state government.

Kansas: Kobach: Understaffing, undertraining caused Sedgwick County’s election-night problems | Wichita Eagle

Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Friday his office has completed its investigation and found that understaffing and undertraining were the primary causes of vote-counting problems in the November election in Sedgwick County. Kobach said he will recommend that county officials increase the number of employees at the election office, which is significantly understaffed compared to the offices in Johnson, Wyandotte and Shawnee counties. Johnson County has the largest election staff with 15 full-time employees and four part-time. Sedgwick County has three full-time and six part-time, the report said.

Kansas: Voter name dispute underscores how Kansas Secretary of State Kobach spurs indignation from critics The Republic

The postelection legal battle between Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and a legislative critic resolved little, but it provided another example of how disputes involving Kobach often can pivot to questions about his motives. Kobach intervened as Democratic state Rep. Ann Mah of Topeka sought the names of voters who cast provisional ballots in her close re-election race. Mah and her supporters saw an opportunity to avert a narrow loss by contacting the voters and helping them address problems so that county officials would count their ballots. The Republican secretary of state advised county election officials statewide not to release voter names. When that didn’t prevent Mah from getting lists, he pushed the dispute into federal court to block Mah and her GOP challenger from contacting voters. He didn’t prevail, but the long-term effects aren’t clear.

Kansas: Kobach loses round in battle over Kansas voter names | SFGate

Kansas Secretary of Kris Kobach lost a legal battle Wednesday to block one of his most persistent critics from contacting voters who cast uncounted provisional ballots in her close legislative race, and some county officials suggested his stance represented an attempt to change office policy. U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten ruled against the Republican secretary of state in a federal lawsuit Kobach filed last week to prevent Democratic state Rep. Ann Mah of Topeka from obtaining a list of provisional voters. When his litigation failed to prevent the release of 131 names, Kobach sought to prevent Mah and her GOP challenger, Ken Corbet of Topeka, from contacting the voters.

Kansas: State Rep. Mah criticizes voter ID law, Kobach as counting of 54th District votes continues | LJWorld.com

A Democratic legislator in a close re-election fight alleged Thursday that Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach was trying to deflect scrutiny of a voter ID law he championed when he filed an unsuccessful lawsuit aimed at preventing her from contacting constituents who cast provisional ballots. But Kobach rejected the criticism from state Rep. Ann Mah of Topeka, saying he has repeatedly given her and other legislators detailed information about the law’s administration. Mah, one of Kobach’s most persistent critics, trailed Republican challenger Ken Corbet of Topeka by 42 votes out of nearly 10,700 cast in her race as officials in Douglas and Shawnee counties reviewed provisional ballots Thursday.

Kansas: ES&S must fix electronic poll books, election officials say | Wichita Eagle

More than $370,000 worth of electronic equipment won’t be used in local city and school elections early next year if the vendor doesn’t correct problems with the software, Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman said. There have been ongoing problems with the county’s 130 electronic poll books that were first used earlier this year, she said. “The vendor will have to fix that before we use them again,” she said. “The books have made it far more cumbersome for us. For the election administrators, they’re just a nightmare.”

Kansas: Voters don’t have to have IDs scanned at polls | Wichita Eagle

Voters don’t have to have their IDs scanned with the new electronic equipment that Sedgwick County uses to quickly pull up voters’ information at polling places, a top state elections official said Tuesday. The electronic devices, which are similar to a grocery store bar-code scanner, speed up the voting check-in process by quickly verifying voters’ identification if they have a Kansas driver’s license or other state-issued ID. But some voters didn’t want to have their IDs scanned or had alternative IDs that can’t be scanned. Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita, said some of those voters told her that poll workers forced them to cast provisional ballots, which are more likely to be rejected. “That’s a mistake,” said Brad Bryant, deputy assistant secretary of state.

Kansas: Kobach blames counties for Voter ID confusion | CJOnline.com

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Tuesday his office quickly formed a policy on the use of high school IDs for voting, and one of his top deputies said any confusion about the matter occurred at the county level. Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, asked Kobach about the policy during an elections committee hearing. She referenced news reports in which county officials said the school IDs aren’t valid for voting, while Kobach’s office interpreted the state’s voter ID law as allowing some. Kobach told the committee his office determined that IDs issued by public schools would be acceptable because “a public school is technically a local unit of government.” Private school IDs, he said, wouldn’t be valid at the polls. “Took you awhile to do that,” Schmidt said. “It didn’t take our office long,” Kobach said, telling Schmidt that the determination was made within days of the question being raised. “Interesting,” Schmidt said.

Kansas: Birthers Lose Kansas Fight: Obama Will Stay On Ballot | TPM

A board of three elected Republican officials decided to allow President Barack Obama to remain on the Kansas ballot during a brief meeting on Monday, despite the protest of California lawyer/dentist Orly Taitz, arguably the nation’s most infamous “birther.” The unanimous vote brought a swift end to a saga which began Thursday evening when the Kansas Objections Board considered a complaint from a state resident seeking to exclude Obama from the ballot. That resident, Joe Montgomery of Manhattan, Kan., originally said he believed Obama was not a natural born U.S. citizen and therefore was ineligible to qualify for reelection. But he withdrew his objection on Friday, making Monday’s meeting more or less a formality to close the matter. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer voted to close the matter during the 15-minute meeting. They did so without making a ruling about the president’s citizenship. State Election Director Brad Bryant told TPM, however, that the board added a certification of Obama’s place of birth that Hawaii sent Kansas over the weekend into the record before bringing the matter to a close.