Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has been ordered to face a court hearing on Friday as to whether or not he has complied with the ruling given by the court to register voters.
www.kansas.com/…
Secretary of State Kris Kobach will have to prove to a federal judge why he should not be held in contempt of court at a hearing on Friday.
Judge Julie Robinson scheduled the contempt hearing after a filing by the American Civil Liberties Union last week. The filing alleges that Kobach has failed to comply with the judge’s May order to register about 18,000 people who registered to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles but did not provide proof of citizenship.
Those voters were allowed to cast provisional ballots in the August primary, but Kobach has not added them to the state’s voter registration list. The ACLU says that has resulted in confusion and discouraged voter participation.
The problem for Kobach may be far worse than the Secretary of State lets on. In exclusive content to this blog, voters have been informed that their motor voter information will not be honored — including dates post the ruling in federal court.
In a letter provided on August 17, 2016, Ian Baker of McPherson, a registrant via Federal Motor Voter law was informed that his registration would not be honored within his county. The county immediately noted that his registration would not be acceptable until after he complied with the state form.
Voters like Ian Baker received not just similar notices but sometimes confusing information is presented to the voter which leaves them wondering whether or not their status is valid. The issue? The state relayed to them confusing information:
Because the website lists her as both “Active” and “Suspended”, the voter is unsure of whether or not they can legitimately vote. Is this a concern for just one voter? How are other voters listed? If you look at my voter record, you’ll notice that I am not listed as both Active and Suspended, despite a recently reported move.
This greeting into the system shows a deep disregard to the court ruling, as it is the State website and registration engine that provides the conflicting information to voters. County election officers report this “active-suspended” is only to suggest the voter hasn’t voted in awhile; however, the system also provides an option of “inactive” which would seem more appropriate.
Can “suspended” mean “not suspended”? Is this not a way to confuse voters? Most voters who are not elections officers are likely to be confused by this conflicting information.
On Friday, Kris Kobach faces a judge and will find out whether or not cases such as these are a sign he has refused to comply with a court order to register voters. The question is, how much proof is enough proof?
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