Kansas Voter Scrub Could Take Weeks October 5, 2015

(AP) – Some Kansas election officials expect to take weeks to cancel incomplete voter registrations even with a new rule for culling records from Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
And county election officials said Monday that even when the job is done, electronic records for such residents still will be accessible, not deleted.
A new rule from the Republican secretary of state took effect Friday and directed counties to cancel registrations incomplete for more than 90 days.
Most of the 31,000 affected registrations are for residents who haven’t complied with a 2013 law requiring new voters to produce papers documenting their U.S. citizenship.
Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman said her office will first go through a list of 1,700 people who were on the incomplete list but have Kansas birth certificates.

Kansas Starts to Remove Some Voters’ Names From Registration Lists October 2, 2015

(AP) – Election officials across Kansas are expected to begin removing the names of more than 31,000 prospective voters from their records in line with Kansas’ tough voter identification law, which requires applicants to prove their citizenship before casting a ballot.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach has directed county election officials to discard applications from prospective voters who after 90 days did not provide all the required information and documents. Most were people who hadn’t documented their U.S. citizenship.
The proof-of-citizenship requirement took effect in 2013. Only four states have a similar requirement, which advocates support as an effective tool against voter fraud but opponents consider a ruse for discouraging voting by the poor and minorities. The culling of applications is the first since the law went into effect.

Kansas Legislature Changes Voter Registration March 13, 2014

(AP) – The Kansas Senate has approved a proposal from the state Republican Party to make it harder for voters to switch parties before primary elections.

The chamber’s 27-12 vote sends the bill to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. The House approved the measure last year.

The bill prohibits voters affiliated with a political party from switching their registration between the June 1 candidate filing deadline until after results from the August primary are certified. Current law allows switching up to two weeks before the primary.

Republicans said the change would protect the integrity of party contests. They said party switching allows manipulation of elections.

Democrats said the bill would restrict voting rights and suggested conservative GOP legislators are trying to protect themselves.

Brownback hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill.