Editorial: Kobach’s folly
Kansas’ secretary of state is deeply misguided in continuing to pursue regulations that restrict voting.
Give Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach credit for doggedness. He isn’t giving up easily on his grand vision of making Kansas the most difficult place in the country to register to vote and cast a ballot.
Kobach is now shopping a bill that would give Kobach the authority to hold “bifurcated” elections. Such a law would allow some Kansas voters to cast ballots in federal elections but block them from voting in local and state elections.
Thanks to Kobach, Kansas has one of the nation’s most stringent proof of citizenship requirements for new voter registration. The Kansas law, adopted in 2011, requires applicants to present a passport, original birth certificate or similar document in order to register to vote. The state law conflicts with the federal law that simply requires voter registrants to attest that they are U.S. citizens.
Kobach insists the law is necessary to prevent voter fraud, particularly undocumented immigrants from voting in elections (despite the lack of evidence that this is happening). Opponents say the law unfairly targets the poor, elderly and young people.
The courts have already struck down the Kansas law. First a judge in Kansas City, Kan., granted a temporary injunction blocking the state from enforcing the law. The court said Kansas could not use its citizenship requirement to block people from voting in federal elections. That ruling was upheld by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
Kobach responded by attempting to enact a new regulation to require anyone who had met the federal registration requirements — but not the stricter Kansas requirements — to cast provisional ballots so that only their votes in federal races would be counted. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged that in state court, and in September a Shawnee County District Court judge said Kobach had no statutory authority to hold a “bifurcated” election.
Kobach has appealed the Shawnee County decision to the Kansas Court of Appeals, but he has no interest in waiting around for a ruling. Kobach said the new bill is needed to keep Kansas’ proof of citizenship law intact while the courts consider the appeal.
It seems a foolish premise to pass legislation that legalizes something multiple courts have already blocked. Kobach should spend his time preparing his appellate case, while lawmakers should spend theirs on much more pressing matters.