Earlier this month, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach proposed to fast track a portion of a restrictive election law that requires Kansas to present proof of citizenship to register to vote. But, election officials say this could be dangerous.
“If you rush implementation of a policy, you have a stronger chance of mistakes,” said Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew in a Lawrence Journal World report yesterday.
The new law also requires voter to show photo ID before voting in 2012. The proof-of-citizenship requirement was not supposed to take effect until January 2013. But, Kobach wants it to be effective by March 2012.
“That way, the bulk of the registrations in the 2012 cycle will be properly analyzed for citizenship,” claims Kobach.
Shew said the 2012 election cycle is already shaping up to be a “perfect storm” with the implementation of the new law, the redistricting process, and the expected higher turnout in a presidential election year. Plus, “checking birth certificates and other documents to determine citizenship is a much more difficult and time-consuming process than checking a photo ID.” (And just today, photo ID already proved to be confusing and time consuming in Wisconsin’s recall elections.)
As we discussed in our recent assessment of 2011 election legislation:
“Proof-of-citizenship at registration has been criticized for its wrongful disenfranchisement of otherwise eligible citizens who are unable to provide documentary proof of citizenship. Until 2011, Arizona and Georgia were the only states to adopt restrictive citizenship policies. Arizona’s law was struck down by a three-judge panel in 2010, but is currently undergoing an en banc review by the full Ninth Circuit Court. Georgia’s law was approved by the Justice Department in April.”
This year, Kansas was one of nine states to introduce bills to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
During a high-volume presidential election, resolving all of these issues could cause significant delays at the polls,” editorialized the LJ World today. “Trying to run a smooth, efficient election despite the new voter ID laws is enough to ask of county election officials. Trying to rush the implementation of the citizenship law would be an invitation to mistakes and frustration for both voters and election officials.”