Officials: First vote under new ID law was smooth
Topeka ? The first election in Kansas under a new state law requiring voters to show photo identification appears to have gone smoothly.
But officials debated Wednesday whether the election in the small southwestern Kansas town of Cimarron was a valid test.
Cimarron voters overwhelmingly approved a 1.25 percent sales tax to finance a new municipal swimming pool. About 460 residents voted, with another 18 casting provisional ballots.
But only one of those provisional ballots involved someone without a valid photo ID. Gray County Clerk Bonnie Swartz says that person was protesting the new law.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who pushed for the law, says the election shows it won’t be a problem. But some legislators said the law would get a better test in more populated areas.