TOPEKA — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is asking the Legislature to give him authority to bar potentially tens of thousands of people from casting votes in state or local races.
The Lawrence Journal World reported the Republican asked a Senate committee Tuesday for legislation giving him power to hold “bifurcated” elections in Kansas.
Federal courts have provisionally held Kansas cannot require for federal elections documents such a birth certificate or U.S. passport from people who register at motor vehicle or with a national voter registration form.
State courts have ruled Kobach has no authority to throw out votes cast by those people in local and state races.
Kobach is fighting those rulings.
Democrats plan to introduce measures to repeal the proof-of-citizenship requirement altogether.
