From Talking Points Memo:
On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in Kansas directly challenging the state's two-tier system, where voters who show no proof of citizenship would be allowed only to vote in federal elections, not state or local elections. At the same time, the Brennan Center for Justice and the League of Women Voters of the United States teamed up to join the ongoing federal case that prompted Kansas and Arizona to start flirting with two tiers in the first place.
The ACLU case is straightforward. Filed in the Third Judicial Circuit in Topeka, Kan., the complaint argues that two-tier voting "divides registered voters in Kansas into two separate and unequal classes, with vastly different rights and privileges." According to USA Today, nearly 18,000 voters in Kansas who registered for the first time this year can vote in federal elections but not in state or local ones because they have not submitted citizenship documents.
...
...On behalf of the League of Women Voters, the Brennan Center on Thursday submitted a motion to intervene as defendants in Kansas and Arizona's case against the EAC. As it stands, if the states win the case, they would no longer need two-tier voting to impose proof of citizenship requirements. If they lose, then two-tier voting's fate would depend, at least in part, on the ACLU case.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
Here's some recent backstory, from an AP article three weeks ago:
Kansas and Arizona asked a court Wednesday to force a federal agency to quickly modify a national voter registration form so the states can fully enforce proof-of-citizenship requirements for new voters ahead of next year’s elections.
The two states filed a request in U.S. District Court in Kansas for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit they’re pursuing against the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and its top staff member. The states asked for a hearing on or shortly after Nov. 12.
The states and their top elections officials filed the lawsuit in August in hopes of forcing the commission to modify the national mail-in voter registration form to include instructions for Kansas and Arizona residents to comply with their states’ laws requiring prospective voters to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship. The request filed Wednesday asks the court to impose the change while the lawsuit is being heard.
http://cjonline.com/...
For more, including Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's deep involvement in this atrocious perversion of democracy, check out this Oct.8 article on The Brad Blog:
http://www.bradblog.com/...
It is beyond disgraceful that the GOP has sunk to trying to suppress the vote in this way. I'm hopeful the DOJ in tandem with these outside groups will be able to put a stop to it.