Congratulations to the League of Women Voters of Douglas County for going the extra mile to try to help Douglas County residents complete their voter registrations.

According to county election officials, 1,435 incomplete voter registrations are being held “in suspense” by the state. Most of those registrations — 1,189 — are being held up because they lack proof of citizenship.

In an effort to whittle down that list, the League has posted on its website (lawrenceleague.com) the names of every county resident whose registration is on the “suspense” list. It is urging people to look at the list and see if their own names or the names of any friends and acquaintances are there. If so, they need to contact county election officials and find out why. League members also are working to contact people on the list themselves to get more registrations completed.

A new administrative regulation that’s under consideration at the state level adds some urgency to their efforts. The proposed regulation, which could be enacted by Secretary of State Kris Kobach as soon as next month, would require county election offices to cancel any voter registration that isn’t completed within 90 days. The growing number of incomplete registrations is placing an administrative burden on county officials, according to Kobach, and it will be easy enough for would-be voters whose incomplete registrations have been thrown out to restart and complete the registration process.

One of the problems with that thinking is that local League officials say many of the people they contact aren’t aware there’s a problem with their registrations. Not every Kansas county probably has election officials and League members who are working as hard as those in Douglas County to notify people that their registrations are incomplete. That means that thousands of potential Kansas voters likely think they are registered to vote and may not learn otherwise until it is too late — after the registrations have been tossed out and the deadline to register for the next election is past.

All the information that voters need to complete new registrations or confirm existing registrations can be found at the League of Women Voters website, which includes links to state and county election sites. The League is doing its best to promote voter registration and participation. Take a few minutes to see if anyone you know needs a nudge to complete the registration process.