The Supreme Court has struck down a law requiring proof of citizenship when you register to vote. The decision could impact a Kansas Law.
Should proof of U.S.citizenship be required when you register to vote? Does that discriminate or intimidate people away from voting? What do you think? Tell us in the comments section below.
Justice Antonin Scalia said that the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which requires states to “accept and use” the simple federal form, replaced more complicated state forms like Arizona’s. And the court said that if the state wanted to add requirements, it had to get permission from the federal Election Assistance Commission set up under the law. If the state was unable to prevail at the commission level, the court said, it could then appeal to the federal courts.
“No matter what procedural hurdles a State’s own form imposes, the Federal Form guarantees that a simple means of registering to vote in federal elections will be available,” Scalia wrote.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach says the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for new voters can still be enforced after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against a similar Arizona law.
Kobach says the Kansas law differs enough from Arizona’s version that the high court’s Monday decision doesn’t apply to Kansas.