Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will be leading the second meeting of President Trump’s election integrity commission in New Hampshire Tuesday.
Kobach says the commission’s research into possible voter fraud has the potential to appear in lawsuits over Kansas voter registration policies.
“It’s quite possible. One of the issues in the main lawsuit we’re fighting in the U.S. District Court in the district of Kansas is how significant is the problem of non-citizens registering in the state of Kansas?” said Kobach.
Kobach pushed the state’s voting rules -- including requiring documentary proof of citizenship for registration -- as a way to prevent illegal votes.
Examples of potential voter fraud could give Kobach a leg-up in a legal fight over Kansas voting laws. But the top Democrat in the Kansas House, Jim Ward, is skeptical that there’s evidence to produce.
“Every time he’s presented stuff, when serious people have looked at it in an independent way, it’s been shown to be quite flawed,” said Ward.
Kobach’s critics contend fraud is rare and Kansas policies have made it too hard to vote.
Statehouse reporter Stephen Koranda spoke with Kansas News Service Editor Amy Jeffries about how the information the commission is gathering could come into play in Kansas.