A federal court in Kansas has advanced an ongoing battle over voter registration to trial, striking down motions for summary judgment by both the American Civil Liberties Union and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. The ACLU sued Kobach in February 2016, claiming that Kansas law violates the National Voter Registration Act by requiring proof of citizenship to register. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson disagreed that the registration requirement hinders voters’ right to travel under the 14th Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities Clause, which prohibits states from discriminating against citizens from other states.
“While it may be true that it is more burdensome for a non-Kansas born citizen to have an incomplete voter registration application in Kansas, the court finds that this burden is not unreasonable in the context of the law’s enforcement as a whole,” Robinson wrote in Thursday’s ruling.
But Robinson also denied Kobach’s cross motion for summary judgment, in which he claimed that the law did not create an undue burden on voters who registered without proof of citizenship documents.
Full Article: Post-Election Voter Registration Battle Continues in Kansas.