To: The Kansas State House, The Kansas State Senate, and Governor Laura Kelly
Repeal the Voter Registration Restriction
End the proof of citizenship requirement for voter registration. Repeal the voter registration restriction in the 2013 Kansas legislative session.
Why is this important?
On January 1st, 2013, a proof of citizenship requirement for all citizens registering to vote for the first time in Kansas went into effect. This marks the full implementation of new voter restrictions outlined by the Kansas SAFE Act. Photo identification requirements at polls outlined by the SAFE Act went into effect in 2012, resulting in 532 votes blocked in the last general election. With the number of votes blocked by partial implementation of the SAFE Act far exceeding the number of alleged cases of voter fraud in Kansas, not to mention the almost non-existent instances of those prosecuted, KanVote is calling on lawmakers to repeal the proof of citizenship restriction this legislative session.
New voters in Kansas are now required to produce expensive and difficult to procure proof of citizenship documents before being allowed to register to vote. For those born in other states, a replacement birth certificate can exceed $40. A U.S. passport costs $135. For naturalized Americans, replacement citizenship documents cost at least $220. New Kansas voters now have to jump through bureaucratic hoops, provide supporting documents, fill out forms, and wait as long as a year for their requests to be processed. If the cost and effort to obtain these documents doesn’t disenfranchise a voter, the time waiting can and, for some, will.
Additionally, the new voter registration restriction is a blatant obstruction of traditional grassroots voter registration efforts. No longer are volunteers, citizen’s organizations, or even political parties able to table outside of community events and grocery stores, or walk door to door registering voters.
Unlike the 532 voters whose provisional ballots provided evidence of their disenfranchisement, Kansas will not know how many of its citizens will be prevented from voting under voter registration restrictions. Like all of those who simply did not attempt to vote due to lack of photo identification, those who cannot register will simply go uncounted.
Not only will the voter registration restriction present challenges to voters, it may also present the state with legal challenges. After several legal disputes, a federal appeals court has blocked Arizona's proof of citizenship requirement. The court ruled that the state requirement is "seriously out of tune" with the requirements presented on the federal voter registration form established by National Voter Registration Act of ‘93. Kansas' implementation of the proof of citizenship requirement will create similar conditions for such a challenge to be leveraged against our state.
New voters in Kansas are now required to produce expensive and difficult to procure proof of citizenship documents before being allowed to register to vote. For those born in other states, a replacement birth certificate can exceed $40. A U.S. passport costs $135. For naturalized Americans, replacement citizenship documents cost at least $220. New Kansas voters now have to jump through bureaucratic hoops, provide supporting documents, fill out forms, and wait as long as a year for their requests to be processed. If the cost and effort to obtain these documents doesn’t disenfranchise a voter, the time waiting can and, for some, will.
Additionally, the new voter registration restriction is a blatant obstruction of traditional grassroots voter registration efforts. No longer are volunteers, citizen’s organizations, or even political parties able to table outside of community events and grocery stores, or walk door to door registering voters.
Unlike the 532 voters whose provisional ballots provided evidence of their disenfranchisement, Kansas will not know how many of its citizens will be prevented from voting under voter registration restrictions. Like all of those who simply did not attempt to vote due to lack of photo identification, those who cannot register will simply go uncounted.
Not only will the voter registration restriction present challenges to voters, it may also present the state with legal challenges. After several legal disputes, a federal appeals court has blocked Arizona's proof of citizenship requirement. The court ruled that the state requirement is "seriously out of tune" with the requirements presented on the federal voter registration form established by National Voter Registration Act of ‘93. Kansas' implementation of the proof of citizenship requirement will create similar conditions for such a challenge to be leveraged against our state.