Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach pushed for tighter voting laws in Kansas aimed at preventing voting fraud. He’s also been a supporter of Donald Trump and has advised the campaign. So what could Trump's election mean for voting laws like the ones in Kansas?
Kobach says Trump will make it a priority to let states have more control. When that comes to voting, Kobach says one potential change could be amending a 1993 federal voting law, the National Voter Registration Act, which has been used to challenge the Kansas policies.
“I think it is conceivable that a Trump administration might say ‘let’s make sure that the courts are properly interpreting this act’ and they might consider some changes to it. I can see some tweaking of existing federal laws,” says Kobach.
Mark Johnson is an attorney who has challenged Kansas voting rules, saying they have blocked eligible voters. He says changing federal law to avoid legal challenges is a bad move because court oversight it needed.
“To make sure that the executive branch and the legislative branch of federal and the state governments don’t make changes in the laws that make it more difficult to vote,” says Johnson.
Kobach is currently serving on Trump’s transition team as an advisor on immigration issues.
Stephen Koranda has more: