photo by: Mike Yoder

A voter heads to a polling precinct at Central United Methodist Church before noon Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012.

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said Wednesday that his office is prepared to register hundreds of voters whose registrations are currently on hold because they have not shown proof of U.S. citizenship.

His statement came in response to a federal court decision Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. A U.S. District Court judge in Kansas City, Kan., granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the state from enforcing its proof-of-citizenship rule on voters who register to vote when obtaining or renewing their driver’s licenses.

That injunction would take effect June 1. However, it was put on hold pending Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“It is my duty to have our office prepared for all possible scenarios and our responsibility to secure the rights of all voters under the law,” Shew said.

He estimated that between 900 and 1,000 Douglas County residents who attempted to register through driver’s license offices have had their voter registrations put on hold for failing to provide documentary proof of citizenship.

According to the court order, however, if those voters are eventually put on the voter rolls, they would only be able to vote in primary and general elections for federal offices, including the presidential race and races for the U.S. House and Senate.