Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State faced a legal setback in Topeka yesterday in his efforts on
dual track voting. Judge Franklin Theis pointed out that Kobach's scheme to separate voters authorized to vote in federal elections from those who could vote in both federal and state.
Judge Theis wasn't persuaded by the arguments presented by the state, and voiced concerned for the method Kris Kobach used, which boiled down to having those who had filed out the federal form vote provisionally. SoS Kobach had setup guidelines by which voters who filled out the federal form could only vote in federal races; it would be a crime for them to vote in state level races. In order to fill out the Kansas form, birth certificates, passport, or other documents would be required while the federal form requires a sworn statement.
http://www.kansas.com/...
That means the federally registered voters have to essentially vote a provisional ballot in every election, potentially compromising the secrecy of their votes, Theis wrote.
The problem is compounded by recent changes to state law making it a crime for people to attempt to cast a ballot in a race when they’re not eligible, Theis wrote.
Kris Kobach, who most recently was connected to a war of words with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over a plan to dispose of 34,000 voter registrations, has contended this is only a short setback and the case has a long way to go.
Still Judge Theis argument puts a pretty firm stamp on where this case will go:
http://www.kansas.com/...
“None of the ad hoc procedures employed by the Secretary of State authorize or justify such treatment of a Federal Form registrant,” Theis’ ruling said. “Nor, just because Kansas has declined to provide a separate ballot containing federal candidates only, should a voter registered by the Federal Form be subjected to the threat of prosecution based on a ballot procedure not authorized by the legislature in order to exercise his or her most fundamental franchise.”
In light of federal court rulings regarding voter registration schemes, Kansas Representatives have called this a "waste of resources." Representative Jim Ward, in an interview before the case was decided, noted that these efforts reflect "a ridiculous waste of taxpayer funds..".
The defeat in court follows the rejection by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, who rejected Kansas attempt to force the state form on federal elections, and the rejection by the United States Supreme Court to hear the appeal.
Rather than take the results of the federal courts and reject an unacceptable policy, Secretary of State Kobach has now resurrected Dual-Track voting. The ruling yesterday however indicates the only victories to be had are by those collecting legal fees.
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