Kansas’ efforts to erect barriers to voting with stringent proof-of-citizenship requirements have been rebuffed again, this time by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. And with his typical arrogance, Secretary of State Kris Kobach has brushed off the commission’s ruling as yet another partisan strike against state sovereignty and vowed to continue the legal fight. Meanwhile, Kansas is now only months away from important state elections, and more than 20,000 residents have their voting registrations on hold because of Kobach’s conflict with federal judges and elections officials. Paging Kansas legislators. The best way to avert a well-publicized elections debacle is to fix the statute that imposes the onerous documentation requirements. And the sooner the better.
The federal election panel refused requests from Kansas, Arizona and Georgia to modify voter registration forms in their states to accommodate proof-of-citizenship requirements. Federal law requires only that would-be voters sign an affidavit swearing that they are citizens, under penalty of perjury. The commission noted, as have many others, that there is no evidence that people who aren’t U.S. citizens are willing to risk disclosure by attempting to vote.
Full Article: Fix Kansas voting law – KansasCity.com.