TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — An American Civil Liberties Union attorney says Kansas law doesn’t give Secretary of State Kris Kobach the authority to remove thousands of names from the state’s voter registration rolls.

And another critic accused the Republican secretary of state Wednesday of trying to keep potential Democratic voters from casting ballots, which Kobach’s spokesman disputed.

ACLU of Kansas attorney Doug Bonney and Topeka National Organization for Women leader Sonja Willms said during a hearing that Kobach should drop a proposed administrative rule.

The rule would require county election officials to cancel incomplete registrations after 90 days. About 36,000 registrations are now incomplete. Most are because prospective votes have failed to document their U.S. citizenship.

Shawnee County Election Commissioner Andrew Howell said the rule would make administering voting more orderly.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s critics are expected to protest his plan for removing more than 36,000 names from the state’s voter registration rolls.

Kobach’s office is having a hearing Wednesday on a rule the secretary of state proposed to deal with registrations that aren’t complete. County election officials would be required to cancel them after 90 days.

About 32,000 of the incomplete registrations are for people who haven’t yet complied with a requirement to provide election officials with papers documenting their U.S. citizenship.

Kobach championed the requirement as a way to combat election fraud. His critics contend it suppresses turnout.

The attorney general’s office and Department of Administration have approved the rule, but Kobach is required by law to have a public hearing and consider possible changes.