Thousands of voters in limbo after Kansas demands proof they're American

[maxrandb]

Source: Yahoo News

WICHITA, Kansas (Reuters) - After moving to Kansas, Tad Stricker visited a state motor vehicle office to perform what he thought was the routine task of getting a new driver's license and registering to vote.

It was a familiar procedure for Stricker, 37, who has moved from state to state frequently in his work as a hotel manager. He filled out a voter registration form and got his driver's license. He was not asked for more documents, he said.

So he was stunned when he tried to cast a ballot in November 2014 and was told he was not on the voter rolls. A month later, a letter from the state said why: His registration had been placed "in suspense" because he had failed to meet a state requirement he did not know about - proving he was an American.

Spurred by Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a national leader in pushing for anti-immigration and voting changes, more than 36,000 Kansas residents have joined Stricker in limbo since early 2013 under a state law that raises a new and higher barrier to voting in the United States: proof of citizenship.


Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/thousands-u-voters-limbo-kansas-toughens-election-law-110506909.html

---

So, can we say "Mission Accomplished" yet? State after State controlled by Repubs have been systematically disenfranchising voters..and the Roberts court paved the way for them to do so.

But - "Midterms don't matter"; "Both Parties are the same"; and the "Lesser of two evils" shit still prevails entirely too much on a website that should be...if anything...dedicated to expanding and defending voting rights.

But I have a question. Mr. Stricker is said to be a "Hotel Manager". I'd like to know what Hotel Chain, and I'd like to know why they are not pulling business out of Kansas, or why someone hasn't organized a boycott on EVERY BUSINESS that does business in Kansas or any of these other voting suppression states?

[turbinetree]

1. 36,000 Kansas residents

should be down at the Kris Kobach,office and ask if he is an American-------------end of god damn story. And if he can't prove it then tell him to leave------------------I know its easy said than done,



Honk for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[Carolina]

10. Honking!

Big time for that revolution

[turbinetree]

33. I'M there with you------------------------

always -----------------




Honk------------------for the political revolution Bernie 2016

[Moostache]

18. I would be less polite than telling him to leave...

I think hog-tied, gagged and then tossed into Arkansas would be a better way to see him leave...

[turbinetree]

34. I just think 36,000 should show up at his door step and ask for his papers-------------------

[Dustlawyer]

24. Since he is working to disenfranchise voters I would

say the he is UN-AMERICAN!!! I wish there was a smart and ambitious Assistant AG willing to prosecute him for election fraud!

[turbinetree]

35. Yepper.........................

he doesn't know any thing about what happened in this month when some very young and old men did the following:

[LanternWaste]

2. 5.9 million disenfranchised voters are a small price to pay to prevent 2,068 fraudulent votes.

"5.9 million disenfranchised voters nationwide are a small price to pay to prevent the 2,068 fraudulent votes since 2000..."

What every argument for the stricter voter regulations I've read on DU directly implied but lacks the courage to state directly.

[TygrBright]

3. Lemme get this straight... The "Party of Small Government" wants to create a requirement...

...that is, proof of citizenship-- that will ultimately demand the creation of an increasingly bloated bureaucratic mechanism to provide such "proofs"-- birth certificate copies, passport documentation, proof that citizenship hasn't been rescinded, verification of non-felon status, etcetera, FOR EVERY AMERICAN OF VOTING AGE.

And we're gonna pay for this, how?

Just askin'...

interestedly,
Bright

[Moostache]

20. No, no, no!! CLutch the pearls...not ALL people....just the brown people.

Did you think they really meant white people? Of course Republicans don't want that! The currently impacted white people in Kansas will see their problems corrected way sooner than the non-whites.

And the enforcement will be handled just as it is now - via the police.

Police do not actually have a function in the right wing mind beyond enforcing laws that the wingnuts approve of, and that can be disproportionately enforced on minorities or anyone of sufficiently 'different' appearance or beliefs so as to appear to be "one of them". In the GOP Utopia, police come to take away anything you don't like. Out of sight, out of mind.

[MuseRider]

30. Don't forget the transgendered citizens

they have an even harder time here. Oh yes, marriage equality brought all kinds of rending of things by the politicians so even though they had to let them do it (nobody else in the state seemed to care if it happened, they are over this crap) they have to pay taxes to the fed and the state differently.

This guy is just awful and we are sitting here looking at his possible run for governor. There have also been rumors that Trump was interested in him. As much as he has already inflicted himself on the rest of the country I would hate to stick him in a position to effect everyone but it sure is tempting to wish for it just to keep him out of the office of governor because hey, who else you gonna vote for here?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. Business LIKES this because it favors Republicans.

[azurnoir]

5. The SCOTUS ruling on the Voting Rights Act is what has allowed this to happen

at the wholesale rate it's happening

[aggiesal]

6. Can anyone tell me what document proves you're an American Citizen? ...

Let me know which document I need to prove I'm a US citizen.

[TygrBright]

8. You'll need certification from the Department of Citizenship Verification

Just as soon as that bureaucracy is created and funded by the "Party of Smaller Government."

ironically,
Bright

[Carolina]

11. Birth certificate and passport

And the more this country devolves, the more I am considering keeping these two documents near at hand -- along with some cash, gold and diamonds (old jewelry) -- for a ready departure to Canada.

[aggiesal]

23. Neither prove you're a US citizen ...

You could be born in the US, and immigrated to another country, thus becoming a citizen of that country, so birth certificate is not proof.
The State department can issue a US Passport to whomever it wants, citizenship is not a requirement.

[Carolina]

28. then we're truly fucked!

Country is going to hell

[aggiesal]

29. I'm only trying to point out that ...

there really is no one document that can prove you're a US citizen.

They can make all these arcane laws, to keep us from voting by requiring
this one simple requirement. Prove your citizenship! It's damn hard.

I agree with a previous post, where we should make Kobach prove his citizenship,
and apply the same arcane rules he's using, against him.

[WhiteTara]

31. You better have a lot of cash because

Canada requires a few hundred thousand dollars in the bank to emigrate.

[passiveporcupine]

16. As progressive as Oregon is

starting a few years back, you need a birth certificate to get a driver's license. The voters voted for this, to make sure illegal immigrants (we have lots of Hispanic field and orchard workers here), could not drive (and maybe to keep them from voting too).

I don't know if you need it for a photo ID too.

I never had to show anything but my driver's license to register to vote in Oregon, but at that time, you didn't need to show your birth certificate to get a driver's license. Now you do. Since I had to do it, I haven't yet had to renew my license, so I don't know if just showing it once is enough or every time you renew your license.

I also don't know if you have to have proof of citizenship now to register to vote.

I'm pretty pissed off about it. I'm pissed off about border control too. I remember driving up through British Columbia one year for my summer vacation, and all I had to show there was my driver's license. Now you need a passport. I've never had a passport in my life and probably won't ever need one, as I'm too far from the border to drive that far now. But it shuts down access to Canada for a lot of Americans who have no other reason to get a passport.

Oh yeah, I did go to Tijuana once too. I suppose you need a passport to do that now too.

I'm just pissed off about the whole way things have been going in politics and foreign relationships and homeland security lately.

[aggiesal]

25. My response ...

"... you need a birth certificate to get a driver's license... "

Birth Certificate is not proof of citizenship.
You may have been born here, but if you immigrated to another country and become a citizen of that country,
you still have a birth certificate that states you were born here, but not a citizen. So Birth Certificate is not proof.

I live near TJ, but I don't go there because I don't have a passport.
But the US State department can issue a passport to whomever it wants. They'd prefer a US citizen, but they don't have to be.
So a passport is not proof of US citizenship.

In reality, there is no one document that proves you're a US citizen.

[Jitter65]

7. Mid-term blues!! Been trying to get the Dems to pay attention to how important it is to get voters

educated and interested in voting in mid-terms and other state and local elections. Governorships are the most important. And it boggles my mind why the Obama coalition and all the former civil rights leaders haven't been running voter education and registration drives since 2012. It's not just POC that are at risk of being disenfranchised as we are learning in this primary season. Rest assured that the GOP has been quietly doing this for the past 6 years. I am really surprised that the Hillary camp has not been speaking about this from the stump and Bernie seems to be focused on getting large crowds to idolize him instead of getting them herded into forums to learn about registering and voting. It is almost too late for this GE. This should have been done right after the voting rights legislation was smacked down by the GOP and SCOTUS.

[csziggy]

9. I thought the federal Real ID Act required proof?

Kansas is compliant with the Real ID Act - and has been since 2013 - according to the Department of Homeland Security. According to the DHS web site that means that to obtain a driver's license or state ID card you have to show proof of citizenship. So having a valid Kansas driver's license should be all the proof Mr. Stricker should need of citizenship for voting or any other purpose.

<SNIP>
The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, enacts one of the key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and requires that the Federal Government “set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver's licenses.” The Act establishes minimum security standards for state issued driver licenses and identification cards and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting for official purposes those documents unless DHS determines that the state meets the minimum standards.

The Department especially commends the 21 states, who already meet the Act’s minimum standards, for their leadership in improving security for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards (Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming).

More: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2013/12/20/dhs-releases-phased-enforcement-schedule-real-id

[dembotoz]

12. like i needed another reason not to move to kansas

and i lived in kck in the mid 70's as a vista and was fond of the climate.
pondered staying but alas the call of family had me move north again
happy i escaped when i did

[dembotoz]

15. wow just had a flashback to the grocery store chain i used to frequesnt when i lived there

milgrams

wonder what caused that synapse to fire

[mountain grammy]

13. Mission accomplished, GOP!

[JHB]

14. I remember when conservatives used to balk at this as "Sovietesque"...

...plus the ones who condemned it as "the Mark of the Beast."

It's amazing how a little melanin moves ideological mountains.

[Jerry442]

17. Sounds to me like Kansas needs to prove it's American.

Sure looks an awful lot like a banana republic to me.

[Enthusiast]

19. I hate Kansas NAZIs.

[Jack Rabbit]

21. Does Secretary Kobach suspect any of being Kenyan?

Just wondering.

[Amimnoch]

22. K&R. Another reason to vote for the DEMOCRATS in November.

This is all a result of the SCOTUS decision on the voting rights act.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/us/supreme-court-ruling.html?_r=0

If Hillary wins the primary, either Hillary or Donald Trump will be appointing justices.

Would you like another Breyer/Ginsburg type justice making future decisions.. Or whatever kind of justice Trump would appoint?

[rladdi]

26. This situation happened to me in Arizona. I tried multiple times to get an Arizona Drivers license.

Three times I was told my birth certificate was not valid which they requested from me. I called the city hall where I was born and each time paid $10 for a copy. Finally, I went the right day, because the woman finally accepted it. I was under the gun, because I had received a notice that I would receive a fine if I did not get an Arizona plate.

[allan01]

27. this place has gone crazy. this is not the america i once knew. i hope there is a big lawsuit out of

this

[Jesus Malverde]

32. Here is a list of the documents to prove citizenship

Birth certificate that verifies United States citizenship

United States passport or pertinent pages of the applicant's valid or expired United States passport identifying the applicant and the applicant's passport number

United States naturalization documents or the number of the certificate of naturalization

Other documents or methods of proof of United States citizenship issued by the federal government pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952

Bureau of Indian Affairs card number, tribal treaty card number or tribal enrollment number

Consular report of birth abroad of a citizen of the United States

Certificate of citizenship issued by the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services

Certification of report of birth issued by the United States Department of State

American Indian card, with KIC classification, issued by the United States Department of Homeland Security (Note: This document applies only to a small Texas band of the Kickapoo tribe with slightly more than 50 members.)

Final adoption decree showing the applicant's name and United States birthplace

United States military record of service showing applicant's place of birth in the United States

Extract from a United States hospital record of birth created at the time of the applicant's birth indicating the applicant's place of birth in the United States

Only if the agency indicates on the applicant's driver's license or nondriver's identification card that the person has provided satisfactory proof of United States citizenship, then a driver's license or nondriver's identification card issued by the Kansas Division of Vehicles or the equivalent governmental agency of another state within the United States

http://www.gotvoterid.com/proof-of-citizenship.html#evidence

Interesting in all of this is Kansas has online voter registration.

https://www.kdor.org/voterregistration/