Issue Position: Voter ID and Proof of Citizenship

Issue Position

Secretary of State Kobach demanded the Kansas legislature implement both voter identification requirements at the polls and presentation of proof of citizenship. .He did so based upon his claim that "aliens" are voting in large numbers in Kansas elections and that voters are being impersonated at the polls. Meanwhile, voters who presented their proof of citizenship registrations continue to be "lost." In 2015 over my objection, the legislature gave the Secretary of State the power to prosecute election crimes. Despite the Secretary's claims of "aliens" voting in vast numbers, and even with his five-fold increase in his legal staff, only 10 prosecutions have resulted, and only one of those was of a non-citizen.

While there may be a comparative few "aliens" voting in Kansas elections, the Secretary's stringent voter registration laws have resulted in upwards of 30,000 Kansas Citizens being denied the right to vote. Fortunately, both federal and state courts have ordered many of these citizens returned to the voter rolls after expensive litigation the cost of which, including the lawyers for both sides, will likely be ordered paid by Kansas taxpayers. That is why in 2017 I introduced legislation to return the power of prosecuting election crimes to professional prosecutors, and supported bills to roll back the cumbersome procedures which have resulted in the disenfranchisement of Kansas citizens seeking to exercise their right to vote.

We had clean and fair elections in Kansas before we became the most difficult place in the nation to vote. Ten prosecutions versus thousands denied their right to vote tells me it's time to go back to laws where voter registration and voting are encouraged, and where professional prosecutors are charged with the responsibility of putting the comparative few who intentionally violate voting laws in jail.

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