Things aren’t getting any easier for election officials across Kansas.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Kris Kobach sent those officials his latest instructions on how the state will allow some registered voters to cast ballots in federal races but not in state and local races. A Shawnee County district judge has ruled that the secretary of state has “no authority” to implement such a two-tiered election process, but Kobach is moving forward with the plan while he appeals the ruling.

The two-tiered system is necessary in part because of a federal court ruling requiring that Kansas voters who registered at motor vehicle offices must be allowed to vote in federal elections even if they have not provided the proof of citizenship required under state law. Instead of producing a separate ballot that lists only federal races, Kobach has decided to follow a “partial provision” process that will allow those voters to mark their ballots for federal, state and local races, but their votes for state and local candidates subsequently will be thrown out.

Consider the problems this creates for county election officials. Provisional ballots can be cast for a number of reasons, including a voter’s failure to re-register after changing his or her name or address or failure to bring a photo ID to the polls. If those provisional ballots are found to be valid, all of the votes would be counted, so those ballots would have to be separated from the provisional ballots cast by “motor voter” registrants, who can vote only in federal races.

One positive aspect of the “partial provisional” plan is that even voters whose votes Kobach has determined won’t count still can mark their ballots for state and local races. If and when a court rules those votes must be counted, at least the ballots will exist.

How many more new instructions will local election officials receive from Kobach between now and the Aug. 2 primary election? Will new court rulings trigger additional changes before that election or the general election in November?

While Kansas continues its court battles to preserve its voter registration laws, real questions are being raised about the impact that law may have on the integrity of the upcoming elections, as well as the validity of the results.