Source: Visions of America / Getty
The Hill- Kansas officials are continuing to enforce a proof of citizenship law that a federal judge recently deemed unconstitutional.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Wednesday that staff for Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has directed county clerks to continue requiring voters to present documentary proof of citizenship.
One county clerk said she was instructed to continue enforcing the policy “as we have been.”
Danedri Herbert, a spokeswoman for Kobach, told the news outlet that state officials still need time to fully understand the court’s ruling on the law. She argued that the judge did not provide a clear timeline for when Kobach had to instruct county clerks to implement the policy.
“I think ‘immediately’ is kind of open to interpretation,” she told the Capital-Journal.
In Monday’s 118-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson wrote that the state’s requirement that voters show proof of citizenship during registration violated both the Constitution and the National Voter Registration Act.
Robinson struck down the stringent law, and ordered Kobach to take six additional hours of continuing legal education that “pertain to federal or Kansas civil rules of procedure or evidence.”
