Topeka ? Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said Thursday his office is ready to handle whatever judicial decisions are made in a dispute over Kansas’ law that requires new voters to document their U.S. citizenship.

“Our job is have plans in place to get information out to voters regardless of the outcome and even if it is at the last minute before an election,” Shew said.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita ordered the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to modify a national voter registration form to add special instructions for Arizona and Kansas residents about their states’ proof-of-citizenship requirements.

Both states require new voters to provide a birth certificate, passport or other documentation to prove U.S. citizenship to election officials. The federal registration form requires only that prospective voters sign a statement declaring they are citizens.

The Election Assistance Commission and League of Women Voters were reviewing Melgren’s decision to determine whether to appeal it to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

In Kansas, the registrations of nearly 15,700 prospective voters remained on hold because they hadn’t yet complied with the proof-of-citizenship requirement. In Douglas County, that number was 466.

Shew has implemented a program of sending postcards to those people to remind them of their status, and this summer will start trying to personally contact them to get their registrations completed.

“The key is communication with voters to avoid confusion and help them be prepared for election day,” he said.