A small group of State officials approved a new voting system for the upcoming Primary and General elections before 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

The Rules and Regulations Board voted 4-0 to approve Secretary of State (SoS) Kris Kobach’s proposal to allow 17,000 Kansans to vote in Federal but not State and Local elections this year.

The policy was approved before the public had an opportunity to comment and only a few minutes after the SoS’s office had posted it online.

Critics say the policy sets up a tiered voting system, which was already ruled unconstitutional by a Kansas District Court judge last year, by creating three categories of voters.

- People who have provided proof of citizenship will be able to vote in all elections.

- People who registered through a DMV but did not provide proof of citizenship will be allowed to vote in Federal races only.

- Suspended voters, who tried to register by some other means, will still be barred from voting in all races.

Mark Johnson, an attorney representing suspended voters in the Federal lawsuit, said this will create a great deal of confusion for voters.

“Voters will come to the polls not knowing if they can vote,” Johnson said. “If they vote, they’re not going to know who they’re going to be voting for. If they find out later that their votes didn’t count, it’s certainly going to undermine the credibility of the election process."











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker