Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach had big plans when he was pitching himself last year to be Donald Trump's Homeland Security chief, and they included changing a federal law that had tripped up one of his voter suppression efforts in Kansas. Huffington Post’s Sam Levine writes:
Kobach presented Trump with the proposal to amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which requires state motor vehicle and other public assistance agencies to offer registration opportunities. Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit stepped in to block Kansas’ proof-of-citizenship requirement ahead of the election, saying it violated the NVRA.
The proposal was at the bottom of a document Kobach was photographed holding during a meeting with Trump in November of last year. The document outlined Kobach’s plan for the first 365 days for the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration. In section 5 of the document, titled “Stop Aliens From Voting,” Kobach proposed: “Draft Amendments to National Voter Registration Act to promote proof-of-citizenship requirements.”
Kobach further wanted to empower DMV officials to ask for information beyond what people are required to give on a driver's license application, including a proof of citizenship requirement. Asking for anything more than what's needed to get a license is currently prohibited by federal law.
The document was made public Thursday when it was unsealed in ongoing litigation with the American Civil Liberties Union over a law in Kansas that requires Kansans to prove their citizenship in order to vote. Kobach has vigorously fought to block the documents from becoming public, and was sanctioned with a $1,000 fine and ordered to sit for a deposition after misleading the court about the contents of the documents.
There don't appear to be any sections of the memo devoted to Russian interference in the 2016 cycle and protecting the integrity of future U.S. elections. Little wonder that Kobach's dedication to keeping certain people from voting landed him a position co-chairing Trump's voter suppression commission.