Kansas State Court Says Secretary of State Has Authority to Create Dual List of Registered Voters

On July 11, a Kansas state court ruled that the Secretary of State did not exceed his authority when he determined that voters who registered using the federal voter registration form can only vote on federal office, not state or county office. See this story. The Kansas Secretary of State does not like the federal voter registration form because, unlike the Kansas voter registration form, it allows people to sign under penalty of perjury that they are citizens, whereas the Kansas state form requires documentary proof of citizenship.

The Tenth Circuit is currently hearing a case over whether Kansas can force the federal government to amend the federal form when it is used in Kansas. Assuming Kansas loses the federal case, the Secretary of State is determined to implement a system in which voters who used the federal form cannot vote in state and local elections.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.