In the April 2 city and school board election, there were 45 people who couldn’t go to the polls in Ellis County. Part of a voter registration law took effect this year — proof of U.S. citizenship for first-time Kansas voters — and they did not complete the registration process to become eligible to vote. The last of the three parts of the Secure and Fair Elections (SAFE) Act, which was drafted by the office of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, took effect Jan. 1. It requires proof of U.S. citizenship for those who register to vote for the first time in the state. If a person attempting to register to vote doesn’t provide a citizenship document upon completion of the application, that person must submit proof to the county election office.
The April 2 election was the first test for the county under the new law. Ellis County Clerk Donna Maskus originally said there were 57 people who failed to provide proof of U.S. citizenship while attempting to register. The clerk’s office attempted to locate each person numerous times. By the registration deadline, 11 of the 57 provided needed documentation; another was a felon and was ineligible to register, leaving 45 who did not provide documentation.
“I’ve been very concerned that it is a stumbling block because we cannot fully register these people until we get this documentation with the new U.S. citizenship law,” Maskus said.
Full Article: HDNews.net – an online service of the Hays Daily News.