Category: News

Candidate says court ruling today to create separate and unequal voting in Kansas

Jean Schodorf, running for the Democratic nomination for Kansas secretary of state, today said a court ruling on proof of citizenship on election forms would create “separate and unequal” voting in Kansas.

Schodorf is running for the office currently occupied by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

She issued a statement today: “I am appalled by Judge Melgren’s ruling today,” Schodorf said.  “The federal voter registration form did not create a loophole to Kobach’s proof of citizenship requirements, it ensured that Kansans are able to vote in all elections, federal, state and local. Under Kobach’s two-tier voting scheme, some Kansans will be able to vote in all elections, while others will be unable to vote in their state and local elections, which would block their voice from key issues such as education and property taxes.

“Kobach’s war on voting must stop,” Schodorf said. “The federal voter registration form includes an affidavit that prospective voters must sign swearing they are citizens. This form is a legal document, and if you lie on a legal document, you go to jail. Kris Kobach should be focused on running the Kansas Secretary of State’s office so our business owners and entrepreneurs can create more jobs in Kansas, instead of focusing on his personal agenda.

“As secretary of state, I will work each and every day to protect all Kansas voters and our hard won democratic freedoms,” she said. “Kansans will not tolerate a system of separate and unequal voting. As I travel the state, I keep hearing my fellow Kansans say they are embarrassed. I don’t want my neighbors to be embarrassed anymore.”

Kobach, in a news release today, said there will be no need now for a dual election system.

“This is a huge victory for the states of Kansas and Arizona. They have successfully protected our sovereign right to set and enforce the qualifications for registering to vote,” Kobach said in a news release. “We have now paved the way for all 50 states to protect their voter rolls and ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote.”

The lawsuit against the EAC was brought seven months ago by the states of Kansas and Arizona and their secretaries of state. It asked the federal court to force the EAC modify the Kansas-specific and Arizona-specific instructions on the federal voter registration form to make it clear that applications will not be complete without submitting concrete evidence of citizenship.

“Because of this victory there will be no need for a dual election system,” Kobach said in the news release. “Otherwise we would have been stuck with a federal-elections-only ballot for those very few who used the federal form to register and failed to provide a citizenship document.”

See earlier story, https://wyandotteonline.com/kobach-wins-lawsuit-over-proof-of-citizenship-question-on-election-forms/.

Kobach wins lawsuit over proof of citizenship question on election forms

Kansas has won a decision at the U.S. District Court level that would require new voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.

Judge Eric Melgren ruled Wednesday that the federal Election Assistance Commission would have to add the language required by Kansas law on citizenship to the instructions on federal mail voter registration forms for Kansas and Arizona.

The Kansas secretary of state, Kris Kobach, filed the suit, along with the Arizona secretary of state, and the states of Kansas and Arizona.

The district court found that “Congress had not preempted state laws requiring proofs of citizenship through the National Voter Registration Act,” according to the decision.

Judge Melgren ruled that the federal Election Assistance Commission’s decision denying the states requests to put the citizenship question on the election form to be “unlawful and in excess of its statutory authority.”

The case decision, Kris W. Kobach et al. vs. the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, is online at https://ecf.ksd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2013cv4095-157.

Unemployment rate rises to 8.4 percent in January

The January unemployment rate in Wyandotte County rose to 8.4 percent, as compared to December’s 6.9 percent.
Compared to one year ago, the Wyandotte County unemployment rate improved from 9.2 percent in January 2013 to 8.4 percent in January 2014, according to the Kansas Department of Labor statistics.
According to a state unemployment map, the only Kansas county with a higher unemployment rate in January 2014 was Linn County, with 8.7 percent unemployment. Statewide, the unemployment rate was 5.4 percent.
A spokesman for the KDOL stated that the figures are not seasonally adjusted and most of the unemployment rate increase in Wyandotte County is due to season factors such as retail and construction.
While the change from December to January is larger than seen in the last few years, it is not uncommon for Wyandotte County, as in January 2011 the unemployment rate change was an increase of 1.6 percent from December to January, the spokesman stated.
January 2014 saw an increase of 1,026 unemployed people from the previous month, while the percentage change in the labor force and employment was a much smaller number.
In January 2013, Wyandotte County had a much smaller increase in unemployed people, at 473 more over the previous month, according to state statistics.