National: Federal agency helps red states make voter registration harder | MSNBC

The director of the federal agency that helps states run elections is under fire for abruptly reversing course and siding with three Republican-led states in their efforts to make vote registration much more difficult. The controversy involves questions of federal policymaking authority that may sound arcane. But at stake are the rights of perhaps thousands of would-be voters as the 2016 elections approach — as well as allegations of improper collusion at the federal level. On Friday, Brian Newby, the new executive director of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), wrote in letters to Kansas, Georgia and Alabama officials that the agency had changed the state-specific instructions given to voters in those states to accompany the federal voter registration form that the EAC administers. The new instructions say that would-be voters must present proof of citizenship when they register. Kansas’ Republican Secretary of State, Kris Kobach — an ally of Newby, a former Kansas county election administrator — has for years been pressing the EAC to green-light that change. In 2011, Kobach, a former GOP operative and zealous backer of strict voting and immigration laws, helped pass a state law that required proof of citizenship from those registering to vote. But the EAC had twice rejected Kobach’s request to change the instructions given to Kansas voters on the federal form, saying the change would violate federal voting law, which aims to make registration as easy as possible. In late 2014, a federal court likewise ruled against Kobach.
As such, Newby’s move Friday amounted to a sudden, unilateral surrender by the agency on an issue that could have major implications for access to the ballot in Kansas, Georgia, Alabama, and Arizona, which all have proof-of-citizenship laws. Now that it’s installed, the change can only be undone with the approval of all three commissioners —which appears unlikely — or through legal action.
Newby’s move sparked instant criticism. In a statement posted online Tuesday, the panel’s lone Democratic commissioner, Vice Chair Thomas Hicks, wrote that Newby had acted “unilaterally,” and that his decision “contradicts policy and precedent established by the Commission.” Hicks noted that a 2015 EAC statement makes clear that the executive director lacks the authority to set policy, which must be done by the commissioners. Hicks said any change to the federal voter registration form would need to be voted on by the commissioners after a public comment period, neither of which occurred in this case.
… In an interview with MSNBC, Newby conceded that he lacks the authority to change EAC policy. But he argued that changing the state-specific instructions that accompany the federal voter registration form, unlike changing the form itself, constituted an administrative matter, rather than a policy change— even though the agency had twice rejected Kansas’ requests to change the instructions. In fact, Newby said, he believes he’s required to change the instructions if a state asks him to. “If a state requests that we modify the state-specific instructions based on their state law, yes, I believe that my role is to put those [changes] in our state-specific instructions,” Newby said.
Full Article: Federal agency helps red states make voter registration harder | MSNBC.