Secretary of State Kris Kobach said in court Wednesday an elderly couple challenging Kansas’ proof of citizenship voting law hadn’t demonstrated they are citizens — and therefore eligible to sue.
At the same hearing, a Shawnee County District Court judge suggested an earlier order allowing some individuals who haven’t provided proof to vote in state and local races would extend into the general election.
Judge Larry Hendricks heard oral arguments from Kobach and the American Civil Liberties Union over whether he should order individuals who have registered at Department of Motor Vehicle locations or using a federal form to vote in all races — federal, state and local — regardless of whether they’ve provided proof of citizenship.
Days before the August primary election, Hendricks said voters who had registered at Department of Motor Vehicle locations could vote in all races, not just federal contests, even if they hadn’t proven citizenship. Subsequently, a federal appeals court held that people who registered using the federal form but who hadn’t proven citizenship could vote in federal races.
Hendricks indicated he might expand a temporary order he issued right before the August primary while he mulls his final ruling. Presumably, that would allow individuals who hadn’t proven citizenship to vote in all races in the November general election.
Hendricks told The Associated Press after the hearing that the current temporary order remains in effect for the general election.
During oral arguments, Kobach raised issues of standing related to two of the plaintiffs, Marvin and JoAnn Brown. Marvin Brown is a 90-year-old Army Air Corps veteran, and both had registered using the federal form but didn’t provide documents proving citizenship.
Kobach argued that for the purposes of the lawsuit, the Browns should demonstrate they are citizens, and therefore have standing to sue over the law.
“At this point, we don’t even know these individuals are citizens,” Kobach said.
He also noted it is possible for noncitizens to serve in the U.S. military.
Kobach also provided a spreadsheet with names from Sedgwick County of naturalized citizens who had been registered to vote prior to becoming citizens and noncitizens who had attempted to vote. In total, the document contained about 25 names, gathered over the past decade.
ACLU attorneys argued that, of the names on the list, just three had ever voted. During the same time period, thousands of people had registered to vote, they said. The evidence of noncitizen voting is nominal, they argued.
“The risk here of disenfranchising voters is very real and we would submit outweighs the nominal evidence of noncitizen registration,” ACLU attorney Sophia Lakin said.
Hendricks didn’t set a timeline for his decision. But his comments appeared to indicate if he doesn’t issue a final decision he will at the least issue some sort of order before the November election.
Larry Hendricks tells The Associated Press after a hearing on the ACLU voting case that his earlier order to count the votes in the August primary also applies to the November election.
By Jonathan Shorman/Topeka Capital Journal. Read the original story here.
TIMELINE
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has championed laws requiring proof of citizenship to vote. The conservative Republican argues the tough laws on voting eligibility are needed to protect elections against fraud, but critics contend such restrictions are unnecessary and suppress voter turnout — particularly among the young and minority voters.
Here’s a look at the long-running political and legal fight over Kansas voter registration laws:
— March 29, 2011: The Kansas Legislature passes an elections reform bill, the “Secure and Fair Elections Act,” which requires people to provide evidence of U.S. citizenship — such as a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers — in order to register to vote.
— June 17, 2013: The U.S. Supreme Court blocks states from requiring proof of citizenship for registering to vote in federal elections. The court says that states cannot impose proof-of-citizenship requirements above those set on the federal voter registration. But the high court left open the ability for the states to request that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission change the federal form for their states.
— Aug. 2, 2013: Kobach and Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett file a federal lawsuit seeking to force the EAC to grant their requests to add proof-of-citizenship requirements to the federal voter registration form used by residents in their states. U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren orders the EAC to add the proof of citizenship requirement to the federal form, but his ruling is quickly blocked by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
—Aug. 5, 2014: Kobach institutes a two-tiered voting system in the Kansas primary election that counts only ballots cast in federal races — and not those in state and local contests — from voters who registered using a national form.
— Nov. 7, 2014: The 10th Circuit rules Kansas and Arizona residents can register to vote using a federal form without having to provide proof of citizenship, rejecting the states’ arguments that the EAC has a duty to grant their requests to change the federal form.
—Sept. 2, 2015: As the number of prospective voters on the Kansas suspension list grows to more than 35,000, an administrative rule proposed by Kobach allows election officials to purge registration applications older than 90 days.
— Sept. 7, 2015: Two young Kansas residents file a federal lawsuit seeking to prevent the state from requiring them to document their U.S. citizenship and to keep election officials from removing their names and thousands of others from registration rolls.
— Jan. 15, 2016: Shawnee County District Judge Franklin Theis rules Kobach has no legislative authority to impose a two-tier voting system in which some voters who registered using the national form can cast votes only in federal races, and not state or local races. The Kansas judge found the right to vote in Kansas is not tied to the method of registration.
— Feb. 1, 2016: Brian Newby, the new executive director of the EAC, unilaterally and without public notice changes the instructions on the federal voter registration form for Kansas, Alabama and Georgia. Newby, a former elections commissioner for Johnson County, had been appointed to his previous Kansas post by Kobach.
—Feb. 12, 2016: The League of Women Voters and a coalition of civil rights group file a federal lawsuit against Newby and the EAC in Washington, D.C., seeking to overturn Newby’s actions. Kobach later joins the lawsuit on Newby’s behalf.
—Feb. 18, 2016: The American Civil Liberties Union files a federal lawsuit in Kansas contending that people trying to register to vote at Kansas motor vehicle offices are being forced to provide documentary proof of citizenship in violation of federal law.
—May 17, 2016: U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson temporarily orders Kansas to allow people who registered at motor vehicle offices to vote in federal elections, finding the state law likely violates a provision in the National Voter Registration Act that requires only “minimal information” to determine a voter’s eligibility.
— June 29, 2016: U.S District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., refuses to block Newby’s actions, finding that proof of citizenship requirements to register to vote are not burdensome. The League of Women Voters subsequently appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
— July 12, 2016: The State Rules and Regulation Board in Kansas issues a temporary rule proposed by Kobach that orders election officials to only count votes cast for federal races —and not state and local races — from Kansas voters who registered at motor vehicle offices without providing citizenship documents. The 120-day temporary rule extends through Nov. 8, the date of the general election.
— July 19, 2016: The American Civil Liberties Union files a Kansas lawsuit challenging Kobach’s latest rule setting up a two-tier election system.
__ July 29, 2016: Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks blocks Kobach’s rule, and orders Kansas to count votes in state and local races cast in the August primary cast by people who registered in motor vehicle offices without providing citizenship documents.
__ Sept. 9, 2016: A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia blocks Kansas, Georgia and Alabama from requiring residents to prove they are U.S. citizens in order to vote in federal elections if they registered using a national form.
__ Sept. 21, 2016: Shawnee County District Judge Larry Hendricks tells The Associated Press after a hearing on the ACLU voting case that his earlier order to count the votes in the August primary also applies to the November election.