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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 19 June 2018

Judge: Kansas cannot require proof of citizenship to vote

By ROXANA HEGEMAN izenship laws that are not sial about requiring United
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A currently being enforced, States citizens to show iden-
federal judge ruled Mon- according to the American tification when they register
day that Kansas cannot Civil Liberties Union. Arizona to vote; it protects Ameri-
require documentary proof is the only other state with can citizen's right to free
of U.S. citizenship to register a similar law in effect, but and fair elections. Instead
to vote, finding such laws that law is far more lenient of mocking or playing poli-
violate the constitutional and allows people to satisfy tics with the integrity of our
right to vote in a ruling with it by writing their driver's li- electoral process — the ju-
national implications. cense number on the voter diciary should be protect-
The ruling by U.S. District registration form. ing it," Watkins said.
Judge Julie Robinson is The lead case filed by the Kansas has about 1.8 million
the latest setback for Kan- ACLU on behalf of sever- registered voters. Kobach
sas Secretary of State Kris al named voters and the has told the court he has
Kobach, who has cham- League of Women Voters been able to document a
pioned such laws and led is centered on the Nation- total of 127 noncitizens who
President Donald Trump's al Voter Registration Act, at least tried to register to
now-defunct voter fraud commonly known as the vote. Forty-three of them
commission. The 118-page Motor Voter Law, which al- were successful in register-
decision came in two con- lows people to register to ing, he says, and 11 have
solidated cases challeng- vote when applying for a voted since 2000. Five of
ing a Kansas voter registra- driver's license. The case those people registered at
tion law requiring people to required Kobach to prove motor vehicle offices, ac-
provide documents such that Kansas has a signifi- cording to Kobach.
as a birth certificate, U.S. cant problem with nonciti- In the first three years after
passport or naturalization zens registering to vote. In this Friday, April 20, 2018, file photo, Kansas Secretary of State the Kansas law went into
papers. Robinson found the Kan- Kris Kobach speaks during a rally at the Statehouse in Topeka, effect in 2013, about one in
The decision strikes down sas law disproportionately Kan. seven voter registration ap-
the Kansas proof-of-citizen- impacts qualified voters, Associated Press plications in Kansas were
ship registration law and while only nominally pre- blocked for lack of proof
makes permanent an ear- venting noncitizen voter substantiated claim that fraud but critics contend of citizenship — with nearly
lier injunction that had tem- registration. millions of immigrants in the target Democratic-leaning half of them under the age
porarily blocked it. "It also may have the in- country illegally may have minorities and college stu- of 30, according to court
In an extraordinary rebuke, advertent effect of erod- voted in the 2016 election. dents who may not have documents. Between 2013
the judge also ordered ing, instead of maintaining "This decision is a stinging such documentation. and 2016, more than 35,000
Kobach on Monday to confidence in the electoral rebuke of Kris Kobach, and "Kris Kobach's mission to dis- Kansas residents were un-
complete an additional six system given the confusing, the centerpiece of his voter enfranchise eligible Kansas able to register to vote.
hours of legal education on evolving, and inconsistent suppression efforts: a show- voters has again been re- Courts had temporarily
top of other requirements enforcement of (docu- me-your-papers law that vealed as the unconstitu- blocked Kobach from fully
before he can renew his mentary proof of citizen- has disenfranchised tens tional crusade it has always enforcing the Kansas law,
law license for the upcom- ship) laws since 2013," she of thousands of Kansans," been," Kansas Democratic with the 10th U.S. Circuit
ing year. She imposed the wrote. Dale Ho, director of the Party Executive Director Court of Appeals in Denver
sanction for his numerous Her ruling also encom- ACLU's Voting Rights Proj- Ethan Corson said in an calling it "a mass denial of a
disclosure violations. passed a less publicized le- ect, said in news release. emailed statement. fundamental constitutional
Kobach did not immedi- gal challenge filed by Kan- "That law was based on a But the decision drew criti- right."
ately respond to phone sas voter Parker Bednasek, xenophobic lie that nonciti- cism from Steve Watkins, In a separate legal chal-
and email messages seek- which is not limited to mo- zens are engaged in ram- the Republican candidate lenge, the U.S. Court of Ap-
ing comment. tor-voter applicants cited pant election fraud." for Kansas' 2nd Congres- peals for the District of Co-
No other state has been in the ACLU and therefore The cases have drawn na- sional District, who called lumbia also has temporarily
as aggressive as Kansas in affects all Kansas voters. tional attention because it "the latest example of blocked the enforcement
imposing proof-of-citizen- Kobach, a conservative of its implications for vot- unelected judges replac- of the state's proof-of-citi-
ship voter registration re- Republican who is running ing rights as Republicans ing their wisdom for that of zen requirement for people
quirements. Alabama and for governor, was a lead- pursue laws they say are voters." who register to vote using
Georgia have proof-of-cit- ing source for Trump's un- aimed at preventing voter "There is nothing controver- the federal form.q