The Kansas Senate has approved a bill requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls. The vote was 36 to 3. Secretary of State Kris Kobach has been pushing the bill. He believes it would help combat voter fraud. Senator David Haley, a Kansas City Democrat, believes voter fraud is not a problem in Kansas, and he says the new requirements would make it difficult for Kansans to vote.
The bill would also require people registering to vote for the first time in Kansas to prove they're U-S citizens. That requirement would not take effect until 2013. A version that passed the House would put the citizenship requirement into effect next year and give the secretary of state the power to prosecute voter crimes. House and Senate negotiators now need to work out differences between bills that passed the two chambers.