With new voting laws taking effect this year that will require voters to show identification, Lyon County Clerk Tammy Vopat wants to make the details of the new requirements clear to the public.
“My main focus is to keep it as simple as I can,” Vopat said of the new law.
As a part of the Kansas SAFE (Secure and Fair Elections) Act, voters in Kansas now must show a valid form of ID before casting a vote.
“The process is going to be very simple,” Vopat said. “You just go like you usually do to the polls. You show your ID and state your name. The poll worker will verify that that’s who is handing in the photo. They’ll check the photo and the name, and then you’ll finish the voting process.”
Those who do not have a valid photo ID can go to the Department of Motor Vehicles, fill out a form and request a free photo ID for voting purposes only. They will have to show proof of their voter registration when they go and must follow the DMV’s guidelines for the free IDs.
The act was passed by the Kansas Legislature during the 2011 session and is intended to cut down on voter fraud. According to the office of Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the law is intended to permit only registered citizens to vote and will bolster voters’ confidence in the democratic process. Provisions of the law include requirements that newly-registering voters in Kansas show proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, show a valid photo ID when voting in person and provide a valid ID number when voting by mail.
“These are the core provisions of the SAFE Act, which will make sure that Kansas election law is the strongest in the nation,” Kobach said in a statement issued through his office last year.
It is hoped that the new requirements will not complicate the voting process, Vopat said, but her office has been preparing for the changes since last summer.
“I don’t expect for it to impede,” she said. “I’m hoping that it won’t. I think it’s going to be fairly easy. I hope we’ll be prepared for whatever comes.”
When checking IDs, poll workers will take into account changes in address, facial features, hair color and other such considerations. If an election worker has any doubt that the person showing the ID is not the person standing there, that worker will request the voter use a provisional ballot.
“I don’t anticipate that there will be a lot of provisional ballots, but it’ll cause a few more,” Vopat said.
Several different kinds of IDs will be accepted in order to vote. These include:
• Valid driver’s license or ID card issued by Kansas or by another state.
• United States passport.
• Student ID card from an accredited post-secondary education institution in Kansas.
• United States military ID.
• Employee badge or identification document issued by a government office.
• Concealed carry of handgun license issued by Kansas or by another state.
• Public assistance identification card issued by a government office.
All IDs used for voting purposes must be valid and current. Expired driver’s licenses will be accepted for non-drivers over the age of 65.
Anyone with questions or those who would like to volunteer for election work may call the office of the county clerk at 341-3245.
JustWondering (anonymous) says...
What does the headline have to do with this story?? I was expecting to read about a vote being cast in some election I was not aware of. Instead, the story is about the new requirements for the NEXT election.
January 12, 2012 at 10:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bluebonnet (anonymous) says...
It appears they got the headlines and articles swapped. There was another article in the same night's paper about an election in Cimarron, KS, the first election since the new law took effect.
On a related note, I read another editorial by Leonard Pitts Jr. in the 1/11 Gazette about a similar law in South Carolina. He claimed the law is an attack on poor people.
"You have no driver’s license
because you have nothing to
drive. You have no passport because
you’ve never been out of
the country. You have no other
photo ID because you have no
bank account. You work and get
paid under the table, a wad of
cash sliding from hand to hand."
PUH-LEEZE!!! What a bunch of nonsense. It is simple common sense to have some sort of official photo ID. It is required for so many other functions of daily life. This is not a valid argument, IMO.
January 16, 2012 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
The following is a quote from a movie called "The American President"
America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours." You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.
Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.
The excuse of not having a photo id is not valid. For someone having problems with obtaining one there are many agencies that could help for free.
So if you want to vote, get out and get an I.D. Ask your local charity or church to help. It can be done.
If you are too lazy or too stupid to get the help needed for an I.D. I don't want you voting.
January 17, 2012 at 2:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Sorry, the last 4 sentences were my thoughts.
January 17, 2012 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )