A lawsuit over voter registration in Kansas will likely continue, but some state election officials are getting prepared in case they need to make policy changes.
A federal court says Kansans who registered to vote at the DMV, and didn’t provide a required citizenship document, should still be allowed to vote in federal elections. That decision will likely be appealed, but Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew says his office is prepared in either case. Ballots for federal-only voters have been prepared, and policies are in place for poll workers.
“We’ve seen in other states where a judge could make a ruling a couple days before the election. You don’t get to say ‘this is too hard to implement,’" he says. "If a judge makes that ruling, you have to implement it."
Right now, voters who don’t provide required citizenship documents are placed on a suspension list. Shew says those registrations are saved electronically so they can be reinstated if necessary.