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/.
