Hillary Clinton and Loretta Lynch may seek to have Kobach prosecuted for voter suppression. That would be in interesting case to watch.
[From article]
One problem is that it’s “unnecessary and redundant” to give the Secretary of State’s Office this power, as the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association’s testimony put it. The other is that where local prosecutors view showing criminal intent as necessary in such prosecutions, Kobach may not. And especially given the aggressive partisanship he has exhibited as the state’s top election official, it’s fair to wonder whether he’d be nonpartisan in picking and choosing voters to prosecute.
As the League of Women Voters of Kansas has observed, the new law also makes it a nonperson felony to “knowingly” vote or attempt to vote without being qualified “in any election district when not a lawfully registered voter in such election district.”
About 30,000 Kansans are on the list of people who’ve tried to register to vote but haven’t yet complied with the Kobach-pushed law requiring proof of citizenship to complete their registrations. And it’s not hard to imagine some of them, confused about their status, showing up to vote and finding themselves in Kobach’s net.
As Carole Neal, a Wichitan and co-president of the League of Women Voters of Kansas, said in May: “It is possible that those Kansans, as well as those who mistakenly show up at the wrong polling place, could now be prosecuted for the felony of ‘knowingly’ attempting to vote without proper registration.”
[. . .]
In a year in which the Legislature and governor have had so much trouble handling their most fundamental responsibility – passing a balanced state budget – the Kobach bill stands out as optional lawmaking that may make matters worse.
For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman
http://www.kansas.com/opinion/editorials/article23695309.html
Editorial
JUNE 10, 2015
Brace yourself for Kobach
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