Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach just can’t seem to quit tinkering with perceived voter ID and fraud issues. One would think that they are all his office deals with, though Kobach’s duties go well beyond being the chief elections officer in the state. Kobach’s latest irritant is what he sees as the difference between federal and state elections and who is allowed to vote. The two-tiered system he is proposing would let Kansans who have proved their citizenship to vote in congressional and state elections. Those who meet only federal voting standards, which do not have the voter ID requirement, could vote in federal elections but not state. Say what? That’s the Kobach way. It is a convoluted system that clearly underscores the secretary’s “my way or the highway” views of making voting a chore instead of an honor. Both Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have declared that voters who use the federal form do not have to provide ID to prove their voting rights. But Kobach turns the other way when faced with issues that conflict with his beliefs.
His office sent a memo to all election officials in the state that outlined procedures to identify and track voters who use the federal form for voter registration. Kobach’s mandate would create a separate category for voters eligible only to vote in congressional and presidential elections.
… Kobach seems intent on making voting less and less appealing and adding to the already burdensome workload of county election officials. Some county officials declined comment in a Wichita Eagle story. Others did not hold back. “It would be a nightmare for us,” Sherman County Clerk Janet Rumpel said.
Full Article: Kobach’s latest fraud – The Winfield Daily Courier: Guest Commentary.