Kansas
Secretary of State Kris Kobach walked into a heated debate with Wichita constituents in a
meeting that was intended for him to explain the new “anti-fraud” voting laws.
He launched these new laws, “Kansas Secure and Fair Elections Act,” right after taking office.
There were about 30 people present at the meeting, held at the Sedgwick County Extension
Agriculture
building in west Wichita.
There
were no TV cameras there from the local news stations. The meeting almost
seemed as a planned non-event and many of the people who did show up responded
to a Facebook message that was intended
to attract local activists. Some of those people were from Occupy
Wichita.
This
was the fourth meeting Kobach has held so far this month and he plans to hold
others through-out June.
Under the new law, which was signed into law in April 2011, Kansas voters must show an official Kansas photo identification before they can
vote in any election. These new rules start Jan. 1, 2013, and voters
registering for the first time must prove U.S. citizenship. That usually
requires a birth certificate, although Kobach said he had copies of a different
form that can be used by those who don’t have a birth certificate.
Kobach
was told by several people in the audience that they had gone to the Driver’s
license offices in Wichita
and that the workers there couldn’t explain how to get a photo ID.
“The
head of those offices is sitting right there in the back,” Kobach said. “She
can answer any questions you have.”
“You
may know how this new system works, but your workers don’t,” some angry member
of the audience said. “You need to let them know what is going on and what
people can do to get the ID they need.”
Members of the audience complained about the long waits at
the driver’s license stations, often three hours or more, that just add to
discouragement for voters.
Many
in the audience were sceptical that fraud was the real issue behind the new
laws. Some compared the new requirements to a “poll tax.”
When asked about the number of voter fraud documented in
Kansas Kobach said it was about 250. When asked by a man in the audience how
many years that covered, Kobach said that period started in the 1990s.
“You mean you’re
doing all of this over 20 people a year!” the man said in a loud voice.
“That’s 20 people who have been disfranchised over someone
making their votes not count,” Kobach replied.
Kobach was asked why there wasn’t more news about the
meeting.
“Why is this meeting being held at 3:30 in the afternoon,
when most People are at work?” asked Louis Goseland who set up the Facebook
site inviting people to attend. ”Why is it way over on the west end of town?”
There were also complaints that the news media had not given
out any details about the time or location of the meeting.
“It’s been in the newspaper,” Kobach said.
Others in the audience denied that. The Wichita Eagle had nothing in about the meeting until
after it was over. The Meeting had been mentioned on local TV stations, but
not specifics as to when and where the meeting would be in Wichita. By contrast The
Hutchinson News and The
Salina Journal both had announcements about Kobach’s meetings, giving
time and place.
Over and over members of the audience made it clear they
thought this new law was designed to make it harder for some people to vote and
had nothing to do with voter fraud.
Louis Goseland asked Kobach about the timing of his meeting.
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