To combat the virtually nonexistent crime of voter fraud, 21,000 Kansans (including veterans) who registered as voters will be turned away from the polls, have their votes registered as "provisional."
People from racial minorities, young people, and independent voters are the most penalized under the system established by the Republican state government.
The numbers of Kansans with incomplete registration because of citizenship are highest among the young and unaffiliated, an Eagle analysis found. Statewide, 12,327 people who identified as unaffiliated had their registrations suspended because of lack of proof of citizenship, compared with 4,787 who identified as Republicans, 3,948 who identified as Democrats and 361 who identified as Libertarians. Not all who applied identified a party, records requested by The Wichita Eagle from the state show.
The number of men and women with suspended registrations was split pretty evenly.
"It just caught me off guard that I was not registered," Allen said. "I served for a week on a jury trial, which basically told me I was a registered voter. I'm a disabled veteran, so it's particularly frustrating. Why should I have to prove my citizenship when I served in the military?"
Because of a move, apparently, Allen was affected by a law that went into effect Jan. 1, 2013, that requires people registering to vote for the first time to provide proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport.
She left Kansas in 2004 and came back in January 2013. She registered to vote when she went to get her driver's license.
More than 21,000 Kansans' voter registrations in suspense because of proof of citizenship [Deb Gruver/Wichita Eagle]
