Democrats Ignoring Voter Protections for Fraudulent Votes

In what seems like a daily attack on the Vice Chair of Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity Kris Kobach, election integrity opponent Jason Kander made an alarming admission of liberal policies (emphasis ours):

Jason Kander, the former Democratic secretary of state in neighboring Missouri, says it's "not at all true" that poll workers in Kansas hand out provisional ballots to voters who would've been turned away in other states. He argues most election officials are aggressive about handing out regular ballots whenever possible.

Actually this is illegal, ignores the law and disenfranchises voters by taking away the safeguard of provisional ballots and allowing fraudulent votes to be counted.  Provisional ballots were the idea of former DNC Chair and Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd who sponsored them as part of the Help America Vote Act.  As he proudly described this civil rights protection at a 2007 NAACP forum (emphasis ours):

Q: What would you do to ensure that all Americans are able to cast a free and unfettered vote and that that vote be counted?

A [Senator Dodd]: The right to vote and to have your vote counted is the right upon which all of the rights that we have depends. Nothing is more fundamental than this. I’m very proud to have stood with John Conyers when about four or five people stood with us several years ago to introduce the “Help America Vote Act.” It’s not a perfect piece of legislation, but we were able to pass the first voting improvement legislation in this country since the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s. It’s very important that we do what we can here to expand that right and expand that opportunity. We need to go back and do more to make this right. I’m proud that we stood together to make sure that people have provisional ballots, that we have the right to have statewide voter registration and bring courts of civil rights actions against those who would deprive us of those rights.

Kansas has the right approach, which is to give out provisional ballots to those who would be turned away in other states, and all should be concerned by Kander's statement.  A good example of why is another time the story lets the cat of the bag on liberals' plans.  

The story cites the fact that Florida had fewer provisional ballots than Kansas to seemingly condemn Kansas.   Actually, this again exposes problems in Florida; some of which have surfaced in the last few months.  A prime example is in the Democrat Stronghold of Broward County where the Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, an elected Democrat, admitted under oath:

Snipes acknowledged the processes her office have been using aren’t perfect and that some non-citizens and felons have voted despite not being eligible — especially right before major elections when groups are actively registering new voters.

One of those processes is likely not using provisional ballots correctly.  Sounds like Kobach and Kansas' “more aggressive [approach] than other states at getting [provisional] ballots in the hands of would-be voters” is better than Kander's, which even a former DNC Chair would disagree with.  

Voter Registration Confusion in Kansas

There is considerable confusion in Kansas regarding the current requirements to register to vote.  State law requires voters to provide proof of citizenship prior to being registered, but that requirement is the subject of ongoing litigation:

Thousands of wanna-be Kansas voters who thought they might not be able to cast ballots for president and other federal officials this year are now eligible to vote in them - but not in state or local races. 

It's part of the latest fallout from lawsuits surrounding the state law that requires prospective voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship - such as a birth certificate, passport or naturalization papers — when they register. Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is defending the law against multiple legal challenges. 

Supporters of the law say it's important to make sure those who aren't U.S. citizens don't vote. Opponents say non-citizens aren't voting in significant numbers and the real result is making it harder for the poor, the young and the elderly - those who might have trouble getting documents - to vote. 

There are so many legal challenges in play that it's hard to keep track of who can vote and under what circumstances.

Last Tuesday, Kansas began registering people to vote who had not provided the proof of citizenship required under state law.  The 10th Circuit refused to stay a decision holding that Kansas had to register those who registered on a federal form that did not require proof of citizenship, despite the state law requiring proof of citizenship:

Kansas cannot prevent thousands of eligible voters from casting ballots in the November federal election because they didn’t prove they were U.S. citizens when registering to vote at motor-vehicle offices, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. 

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling temporarily upholds a court order that required Kansas to allow those individuals to vote in federal elections even though they didn’t provide citizenship documentation when applying or renewing their driver’s licenses, as required under Kansas law. The state has said as many as 50,000 people could be affected.  

Kansas retains a two-tiered system for those who registered without using the federal form, but that system has been questioned by a state court ruling.  The entire situation, and the resulting confusion, in Kansas shows how chaos can result when states' common sense measures to protect their elections are challenged in court.

Kansas SOS Kris Kobach Combats Voter Fraud

Since taking office in 2011, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has fought to protect the integrity of elections in Kansas.  He created a system for citizens to report instances of voter fraud:

The Kansas Secretary of State's office administers elections at the national and state level for the state of Kansas. In order to ensure that Kansas elections are among the most secure in the nation, we must safeguard our voting process. Election and voter fraud undermines the precious right of each citizen to be heard at the ballot box. Each step of the process must conform to the law, from voter registration to casting votes to counting ballots and certifying results.

To the dismay of many liberals, Sec. Kobach sought and obtained the power to actually investigate and prosecute reported instances of vote fraud:

The conservative Republican pushed for legislation last year that gave him the authority to prosecute voter fraud. Gov. Sam Brownback signed the measure last summer, making Kobach the only secretary of state in the nation with such power. 

At the time, Kobach said he had identified more than 100 potential instances of double voting, casting ballots in the same election in different jurisdictions. 

Kobach announced three voter fraud cases last October and three more in January. One of the October cases resulted in a guilty plea in December, and one was dismissed last Friday. 

Sec. Kobach rightly recognizes that prosecuting vote fraud is not a high priority for prosecutors and state attorneys general, whether through political motives or simply lack of manpower and expertise.  But vote fraud is a real problem, and prosecution is the only true deterrent:

“One of the principal reasons of exercising this prosecutorial authority is letting people know they won’t get away with it,” [Kobach] said. 

Kobach said any instance of voter fraud is serious. 

“Every time an illegal vote is cast, that effectively cancels out the vote of a legitimate voter,” he said. “In close elections, those illegal votes can alter an election.”

Thank you, Secretary Kobach, for standing up for the integrity of the voting process in Kansas and serving as an example to the rest of the country of what the chief election administrator in a state should do. 

Kansas Makes Reporting Voter Fraud Easier

Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, added a new website link to report suspected voter fraud in addition to a voter fraud hotline. This is after Kobach gained the power to prosecute voter fraud instead of reporting them to a local district attorneys office. The message on the KA Secretary of State’s Office website says,

In order to ensure that Kansas elections are among the most secure in the nation, we must safeguard our voting process. Election and voter fraud undermines the precious right of each citizen to be heard at the ballot box.

According to Deputy Secretary of State, Bryan Caskey, possible violations include voting irregularities, corrupt political advertising, election bribery, election forgery, disorderly election conduct, intimidation of voters, voting without being qualified and voting twice in the same election.

Unfortunately, the KA Democratic Representative John Carmichael is ready to spar over the issue and claims Koback will pursue “less than meritorious cases.” And says “That’s what we have to keep our eye on.”

For the latest news on voter ID ad voting issues generally, sign up here for RNLA’s Friday Voter ID Update.

SCOTUS Denies Requests for Proof of Voter Citizenship

The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Arizona and Kansas that left in effect a November 2014 ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the states cannot require the documentation for applicants using the “federal form.”

The decision denied the states’ request to change its registration requirements to include proof of citizenship for those applying to vote in federal elections, as the states require for those using their state forms.

Kirs Koback, Kansas Secretary of State, who filed the joint appeal to the federal appellate court decision with Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan, says,

The Supreme Court decision not to review was not particularly surprising given the fact that there was no circuit split yet.

Kobach expects the 11th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over the two states, to eventually weigh in, according to Roll Call. Kobach also said,

States allow people to use the federal form to register for state elections as a courtesy, but are not required to do so. So I would encourage people to continue to provide proof of citizenship. That is what the people of Kansas overwhelmingly wanted, that is what I ran on and that is what the Kansas Legislature overwhelmingly voted for. That remains the law in Kansas.

Now states will have a more difficult time preserving the integrity of federal elections in their states. Currently, the federal agency's form only requires applicants swear eligibility under penalty of perjury. Therefore, if a state wishes to use the federal form for their own elections then states will have to establish citizenship some other way.

Why it matters:

In a study, two Old Dominion Professors analyzed survey data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, to find that 6.4 percent of all non-citizens voted illegally in the 2008 presidential election, and 2.2 percent in the 2010 midterms. Given that 80 percent of non-citizens lean Democratic, they cite Al Franken ’s 312-vote win in the 2008 Minnesota U.S. Senate race as one likely tipped by non-citizen voting. As a senator, Franken cast the 60th vote needed to make Obamacare law. The authors write,

We find that some non-citizens participate in U.S. elections, and that this participation has been large enough to change meaningful election outcomes including Electoral College votes, and Congressional elections. Non-citizen votes likely gave Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote needed to overcome filibusters in order to pass health care reform and other Obama administration priorities in the 111th Congress.

Kobach plans to send a request presented differently to the EAC to prevent alien votes cancelling out votes of U.S. citizens.  Every fraudulent vote disenfranchises a legal voter.