Kansas: Appeals Court Bats Down Kobach Request To Overturn Contempt Finding | TPM

An appeals court dismissed Tuesday a request by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to overturn a federal judge’s finding that he was in contempt of court. The three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in its dismissal that Kobach had appealed the contempt finding prematurely. “Although the district court stated that it was imposing sanctions, specific sanctions have not yet been imposed,” the judges wrote. “Here, not only has the district court not issued findings of fact and conclusions of law or final judgment, the district court has not determined a discernable amount of sanctions.”

Kansas: ACLU asks Kobach to correct online information for Kansas voters | Topeka Capital-Journal

The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday asked Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to correct voting information on state and county websites or risk further legal action. Kobach fought ACLU in a trial in March over the state’s proof of citizenship requirement in voter registrations. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson blocked enforcement of the law pending outcome of the case, then found Kobach to be in contempt for failing to comply with her orders. In a letter emailed to Kobach, ACLU points out multiple online references that erroneously say voters must prove their citizenship before voting. ACLU asks for changes to four sections of the secretary of state’s website, as well as information found on Douglas, Riley and Crawford county websites. ACLU attorney Dale Ho said Kobach “should have taken care of all of this long ago.”

Kansas: ACLU seeks $51K for fight with Kobach that led to contempt finding | Topeka Capital-Journal

The American Civil Liberties Union is asking for more than $50,000 in compensation for hours spent fighting Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach over issues that led to his contempt of court finding. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ordered Kobach’s office to pay for attorney fees and expenses when she ruled last month that Kobach ignored her orders after she blocked enforcement of the state’s voter registration law. Kobach has filed a notice with the court saying he intends to appeal her decision. Kobach failed to follow through on a promise to Robinson that counties would send postcards notifying people they could vote, even if they failed to show proof of citizenship when they registered. He continued to fight the notion that postcards were necessary until the day of his contempt hearing, which followed a trial in which he struggled to prove claims of widespread voter fraud.

Kansas: Kobach can use state money to pay contempt costs | The Kansas City Star

Kansas lawmakers have abandoned an effort to force Secretary of State Kris Kobach to pay out of his own pocket the costs of being held in contempt of court. The decision ended a looming showdown between Kobach and the Legislature over who is on the hook financially. Kobach was dressed down by a federal judge during a civil trial over voter rights and ordered to pay attorney fees for the plaintiffs in the case. The Legislature’s decision to drop the effort means Kobach will be able to use state money to pay any fines stemming from being found in contempt. During negotiations over the state budget, lawmakers on Tuesday removed a prohibition on using state money to pay for contempt fines or defend himself against contempt. The House had approved the rule last week. Lawmakers negotiating a final deal on the budget removed the prohibition after a letter from Kobach’s office to top Republicans contending the ban would be illegal became public.

Kansas: Kobach’s office: Stopping him from paying contempt fine with state money ‘illegal’ | The Kansas City Star

Kris Kobach’s office says a House effort to stop him from using state money to pay fines for being found in contempt of court is illegal. A top lawyer in the secretary of state’s office condemned the Republican-controlled House’s decision to put the prohibition in its most recent budget. In a letter to legislative leaders obtained by McClatchy, senior counsel Sue Becker raised potential problems with the budget requirement. “(The) proviso is illegal and would require the State to expend significant resources in any futile attempt to defend it,” the letter says.

Kansas: House votes against state money for Kobach for contempt case | The Kansas City Star

A move by a Kansas House Republican would keep GOP Secretary of State Kris Kobach from using state money to pay for being found in contempt of court. Kobach, who is running for governor, was found in contempt of court by a federal judge earlier this month. The legislation was offered by Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Lakin. He said the move would prohibit using any state money for defense or penalties involved in a finding of a contempt of court by statewide elected officials. That would include the governor and the secretary of state. “You pay your own bills if you get yourself in that kind of trouble,” Jennings said. The change passed, 103-16. The overall budget bill that includes the prohibition is still a ways from making it to Gov. Jeff Colyer’s desk.

Kansas: ‘Probably not worth arguing’: Kobach legal team mistakenly files draft with note | Topeka Capital-Journal

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office on Tuesday mistakenly filed an unfinished document in the case over the state’s voter registration law. An all-caps note in the document declares a legal point is “PROBABLY NOT WORTH ARGUING.” Another section was left blank. There is a declaration that “it has been illegal in Kansas to register to vote for years.” The office later corrected the document, which was signed by Garrett Roe, a deputy assistant secretary of state.

Kansas: Federal judge finds Kris Kobach in contempt of court | The Kansas City Star

A federal judge on Wednesday found Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach in contempt of court in a case involving state voting laws, her latest rebuke of the Republican candidate for governor. Kobach is considered a GOP frontrunner despite his constant court battles involving voter fraud and strict voting requirements that he has pushed while in office as the state’s top election official. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson in Kansas City, Kan., referred repeatedly to Kobach as acting “disingenuously.” She chastised him for failing to treat the voters affected by the ongoing court case the same as all other registered voters in accordance with a previous court order.

Kansas: Kobach to appeal contempt ruling; secretary of state hit with fresh ethics complaint | The Topeka Capital-Journal

Secretary of State Kris Kobach affirmed plans Thursday to appeal a federal judge’s order finding him in contempt and another skeptic of Kobach’s role in voting rights litigation responded by submitting an ethics complaint against Kansas’ chief election officer. A U.S. District judge declared Kobach in contempt for refusing to comply with her directives in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging state law requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Judge Julie Robinson also instructed Kobach to pay unspecified attorney fees for declining to abide by her 2016 order blocking enforcement of the citizenship law in Kansas. “The secretary of state’s office will be appealing this decision,” said Kobach spokeswoman Moriah Day. “Secretary Kobach has no additional comment at this time.”

Kansas: Judge: Kansas secretary of state in contempt in voting case | The Washington Post

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach violated a court order that required his office to inform certain people that they were eligible to cast a ballot while a lawsuit challenging a state law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship worked its way through the courts, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson found Kobach, a conservative Republican running for Kansas governor, in contempt of court. She did not fine Kobach but ordered him to pay court costs, including attorney fees for the American Civil Liberties Union, which sought the contempt ruling. Moriah Day, a spokeswoman for Kobach’s campaign for governor, said the secretary of state’s office would appeal the decision and would have no other comment.

Kansas: Kris Kobach’s Voting Sham Gets Exposed in Court | The New York Times

The modern American crusade against voter fraud has always been propelled by faith. That is, an insistent belief in things unseen — things like voters who show up at the polls pretending to be someone else, or noncitizens who try to register and vote illegally. Fraud like this is so rare as to be almost unmeasurable, and yet its specter has led to dozens of strict new laws around the country. Passed in the name of electoral integrity, the laws, which usually require voters to present photo IDs at the polls or provide proof of citizenship to register, make voting harder, if not impossible, for tens of thousands of people — disproportionately minorities and others who tend to vote Democratic. The high priest of this faith-based movement is Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and gubernatorial candidate who has been preaching his gospel of deception to Republican lawmakers for years. He has won plenty of converts, even though he has failed to identify more than a tiny handful of possible cases of fraud. In his eight years as secretary of state, he has secured a total of nine convictions, only one of which was for illegal voting by a noncitizen; most were for double-voting by older Republican men.

Kansas: Judge In Kansas Voting Trial Unloads Frustration on Kobach | KCUR

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach got a tongue lashing Tuesday from the judge who will decide whether he violated federal law by blocking tens of thousands of voter applications. Federal Chief District Judge Julie Robinson, a George W. Bush appointee, accused Kobach of engaging in “gamesmanship” and skirting her orders. In the nearly two years since Robinson ordered him to register those voters, she said, he has forced her and the American Civil Liberties Union to monitor his actions down to the tiniest details in an effort to get him to comply.  “I’ve had to police this over and over and over again,” she said.

Kansas: Testimony ends in Kansas voting law trial; no opinion yet | Associated Press

A Kansas voter registration law enacted in 2013 has stopped thousands of eligible citizens from voting and will damage the election process if it is allowed to stand, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union argued Monday as testimony ended after seven, often-contentious days in a federal bench trial. ACLU attorney Dale Ho said during closing arguments that the hordes of noncitizens accused of illegally registering to vote and stealing elections by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach “are not real.” He derided one of Kobach’s frequent statements that the 129 noncitizens he says have registered to vote in Kansas are “just the tip of the iceberg.” “The iceberg, on close inspection your honor, is more of an ice cube,” said Ho, who urged U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson to find that the law will not be imposed in Kansas.

Kansas: Voting trial over. One more court day, a contempt hearing, ahead for Kobach | The Kansas City Star

A federal judge will decide whether thousands can vote in Kansas this fall after the conclusion of a two-week trial that saw a leading candidate for governor scolded and scrutinized. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican candidate for governor, led the legal team defending the state’s proof of citizenship requirement, a policy he crafted, against a pair of federal lawsuits. The case will have national implications because Kobach has previously advised President Donald Trump on voter fraud and remains in contact with his administration. The trial wrapped up Monday evening, but Kobach still faces a contempt hearing Tuesday. Kobach’s office has pointed to 129 non-citizens that it says either registered or attempted to register over nearly two decades, but he has repeatedly said this number could be “the tip of the iceberg” and has offered estimates that as many as 18,000 are on the state’s voter rolls.

Kansas: Judge says no decision for at least a month in Kansas voter ID case | Reuters

Lawyers presented closing arguments on Monday in the trial of a legal challenge to a Kansas law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, with opponents calling the statute illegal and supporters deeming it necessary to fight voter fraud. The seven-day, non-jury trial in Kansas City drew to a conclusion as U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson said she was taking the case under submission and would not render a decision for at least a month. The Kansas law, which took effect in 2013, requires individuals to present a U.S. passport, birth certificate or other proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Several other Republican-led state legislatures have enacted similar measures in recent years.

Kansas: Let’s check in with Kris Kobach’s illegal voter quest | Salon

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach wants Americans to believe that voter fraud is such a pervasive problem that it could even explain how Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. It’s one thing to point out that the overwhelming majority of political experts disagree with his assertion; even his own expert, however, won’t back up his claim. During a trial over Kansas’ restrictive voter registration law, political scientist Jesse Richman was unable to support many of his claims as he was interrogated by two lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. Richman was testifying as an expert witness for Kobach, who has pointed to Richman’s work in order to back up his own theories about voter fraud during the 2016 presidential election.

Kansas: Kobach witness can’t support claim that illegal votes helped Hillary Clinton | Topeka Capital Journal

Jesse Richman endured a blistering critique Tuesday of his estimate of 18,000 noncitizen voters in Kansas and said he couldn’t support claims by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote because more than 3 million illegal ballots were cast in the 2016 presidential election. Richman, who teaches political science at Old Dominion University, testified as an expert witness for Kobach in a trial over the state’s voter registration law. Kobach, who is seeking the GOP nomination in this year’s governor’s race, has referred to the 18,000 figure as the best available estimate for showing proof of citizenship is needed to address widespread voter fraud. American Civil Liberties Union attorneys took aim at shortcomings in Richman’s methods and presented two experts to refute his conclusions. Varying estimates from Richman are based on small-sample surveys, including one in which six of 37 noncitizens said they tried to register to vote. Under questioning by ACLU attorney Dale Ho, Richman acknowledged he had no way of knowing if those six were successful in their efforts.

Kansas: ‘Incredible and offensive’: Retired attorney feels sorry for Kobach team in voter fraud trial | Topeka Capital Journal

Bart Budetti thinks Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and his assistants are in over their heads and wasting U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson’s time. A 75-year-old retired attorney who once found himself opposite Kobach in a legal dispute over a food bank, Budetti watched a trial unfold last week with daily confrontations and colorful references to a bazooka, red herring, icebergs, Gmail usage and the type of sandwich that can be used as fertilizer. Kobach is defending himself and the state’s voter registration law in a case that challenges his ability to prove claims of widespread fraud. Video of previously sealed testimony from Kobach’s deposition last year revealed he prepared for the eventuality of losing the case.

Kansas: Claims Of Leading Voter Fraud Alarmist Picked Apart In Kansas Trial | TPM

A prominent voter fraud alarmist who had prepared a report defending Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship law admitted in testimony Friday that he did not investigate the circumstances surrounding the registrations of a handful of non-citizens that were central to his allegations. The witness, Hans von Spakovsky, relied on a spreadsheet provided to him by the state. The spreadsheet showed that in Kansas’ second most populous county, there were only 38 alleged cases of non-citizens registering or attempting to register to vote in the last two decades. That spreadsheet, which also showed that only five of those non-citizens cast votes, had already come under extreme scrutiny earlier in the trial. “I did not personally examine each registration form,” von Spakovsky said, under cross-examination from Dale Ho, the ACLU’s lead attorney in the case.

Kansas: Kobach turns to controversial scholar as trial witness | The Kansas City Star

Kris Kobach used as an expert witness in a voting rights trial Friday a controversial scholar who wanted to block Democrats and mainstream Republicans from serving on a presidential commission. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation who has written a book on voter fraud, testified in support of a Kansas law that requires voters to provide proof of citizenship. It was the fourth day of the federal trial in Kansas City, Kan. Von Spakovsky contended that other methods of identifying non-citizens on the voter rolls, such as comparing the voter rolls against the list of driver’s licenses for legal immigrants, are insufficient because they would not be able to identify illegal immigrants. He also said that the threat of prosecution for voter fraud does not do enough to deter non-citizen voting “because we basically have an honor system” in U.S. elections.

Kansas: Kobach, ACLU clash over Kansas voter law at federal trial | The Wichita Eagle

Secretary of State Kris Kobach and the ACLU fought at a trial Tuesday over a law that could affect whether thousands of Kansans will be able to vote this fall. The outcome will affect people like Charles Stricker, a manager at the Ambassador Hotel in Wichita who was the first witness. Stricker thought he had registered to vote in 2014 when he signed up at a DMV, but it turns out he wasn’t. He hadn’t provided proof of citizenship as required by a 2013 Kansas law. The ACLU has sued in federal court to permanently block the law, saying it is unconstitutional and has denied thousands of Kansans the ability to vote.

Kansas: Federal judge to Kobach: ‘That’s not how trials are conducted’ | The Kansas City Star

A federal judge rebuked Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach Thursday after his team tried to introduce data that has not been shared with plaintiffs’ attorneys into a trial. Kobach, a Republican candidate for governor, is handling his own defense with the help of two staff attorneys in the lawsuit against a Kansas law that requires prospective voters to provide proof of citizenship in order to register. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson has repeatedly warned Kobach’s team about trying to introduce evidence that has not been shared with the plaintiffs during the first three days of the high stakes trial, which will determine whether thousands can vote in Kansas this November.

Kansas: Kobach testimony could give insight on talks with Trump | The Kansas City Star

A federal judge will allow the ACLU to show video of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach speaking about his advice to President Donald Trump as part of a trial that will determine whether thousands can vote in Kansas this November. The video of a 2017 deposition will serve as a piece of evidence in the American Civil Liberties Union’s challenge of a Kansas law that requires prospective voters to provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, before they can register to vote. Kobach’s team objected Wednesday to the showing of the video on the grounds that they had not had a chance to review it. They asked that a transcript of the deposition be read instead. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson agreed to delay the viewing of the 45-minute video until Thursday to give Kobach’s team a chance to review it, but she rejected the request to prevent it from being played at the trial.

Kansas: Lawmakers: Could Kansas Be Liable If Voter Fraud Database Leaks? | KCUR

Some lawmakers said Monday that putting Kansas at the center of a database intended to root out voter fraud might eventually put it in the middle of a lawsuit if things go wrong. More than two dozen states compare voter rolls using the Crosscheck database of some 90 million-plus records that Kansas hosts. Secretary of State Kris Kobach has touted Crosscheck as a way to identify voters registered in more than one state and crackdown on double-voting. He’s secured nine convictions for that crime.

Kansas: Trial Tests Kansas Voter Registration Rules, And Kobach’s Fraud Claims | KCUR

A Kansas law that blocked tens of thousands of voter registrations goes on trial this week in federal court — testing whether fraud is common enough to warrant tougher registration rules. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach wants to prove his oft-made and much-challenged assertions that voter fraud isn’t just a risk, but a real and widespread problem. If he fails in court, the state will no longer be able to block voter registrations at driver’s license offices for failing to show such things as birth certificates or passports to prove citizenship.

Kansas: County officials and Kobach at war over elections | The Wichita Eagle

A battle raging from Wichita to Topeka could change how you vote — and how long you stand in line to do it. On one side are the county commissions of the state’s four largest counties, including Sedgwick, who seek more control over the costs of elections. On the other are Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and his election commissioners, including Tabitha Lehman in Sedgwick County. They say the system isn’t broken and doesn’t need to be fixed. So far, the county commissions are winning. The Kansas House recently passed House Bill 2509, which would give counties control over election budgets. It now advances to the Senate.

Kansas: Kobach voting rights trial has national implications | Associated Press

A conservative Republican who has supported President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that millions of illegal votes cost Trump the popular vote in 2016 will have to prove Kansas has a problem with voter fraud if he’s to win a legal challenge to voter registration requirements he’s championed. The case headed to trial starting Tuesday has national implications for voting rights as Republicans pursue laws they say are aimed at preventing voter fraud but that critics contend disenfranchise minorities and college students who tend to vote Democratic and who may not have such documentation readily available. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who is running for governor and was part of Trump’s now-disbanded commission on voter fraud , has long championed such laws and is defending a Kansas requirement that people present documentary proof of citizenship — such as a birth certificate, naturalization papers or a passport — when they register to vote.

Kansas: Kobach’s Proof-of-Citizenship Law Heads to Trial | ACLU

The federal trial over a Kansas law requiring people to show citizenship documents like a birth certificate or passport when registering to vote begins on March 6 in Kansas City. The American Civil Liberties Union will represent the League of Women Voters and several individuals whose voting rights were violated. Kris Kobach — the secretary of state of Kansas, chief architect of the law, and the defendant in the lawsuit — will represent himself. From 2013 to 2016, more than 35,000 Kansans were blocked from registering because of Kobach’s documentary proof-of-citizenship law — approximately 14 percent of new registrants. Many Kansans, including several of our clients, went to the polls on Election Day in 2014 with every reason to believe that they were registered, only to be told, “Sorry, you haven’t proven that you’re a U.S. citizen.”

Kansas: Mail Ballot Bill Clarifying Disabled Voters’ Rights Moves Through Kansas Legislature | KMUW

Sedgwick County leaders are optimistic a law will be passed this year that makes sure voters with disabilities can vote by mail.  County commissioners have backed two bills in the Kansas Legislature clarifying that voters who can’t sign their mail-in ballot envelopes will still have their votes counted. State law already allows voters to receive assistance filling out their mail-in ballots if needed. One of those bills — sponsored by Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau of Wichita — passed unanimously through the Senate last week. Sedgwick County Commission Chairman David Dennis says he thinks there’s a good chance it’ll pass through the House just as easily.

Kansas: Senate votes to fix elections law after Sedgwick County throws out votes | Topeka Capital-Journal

The Kansas Senate on Thursday moved to fix a state elections law that Sedgwick County officials cited last year when they threw out 23 disabled Kansans’ votes in a local election. Senators voted 39-0 in favor of Senate Bill 264, which clarifies disabled and elderly voters who may need assistance filling out their mail-in ballot do not have to sign it. The bill still faces another vote to pass the Senate. Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, a Wichita Democrat, brought the issue after the Sedgwick County Board of Canvassers decided to throw out 23 advance ballots because disabled voters had not signed them. Current law says that voters are required to sign their advance ballots.