Voter Documentation: This has to hurt the Democrats ... hahahaha ..

Federal officials must help Kansas and Arizona enforce laws requiring new voters to document their U.S. citizenship, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, in a decision that could encourage other Republican-led states to consider similar policies.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita, Kan., ordered the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to immediately modify a national voter registration form to add special instructions for Arizona and Kansas residents about their states' proof-of-citizenship requirements. 

Both require new voters to provide a birth certificate, passport or other documentation to prove their U.S. citizenship to election officials. The federal registration form requires only that prospective voters sign a statement declaring they are citizens. 

Kansas and Arizona asked the federal agency for state-specific modifications, but it refused. The states and their top elected officials -- Secretaries of State Kris Kobach of Kansas and Ken Bennett of Arizona, both conservative Republicans -- sued the agency last year.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach discusses a federal 

judge's ruling

Most voters in both states register with state forms, but their officials said the availability of the federal form created a loophole in enforcement of proof-of-citizenship requirements. Supporters argue the requirements preclude voter fraud by preventing noncitizens from voting, particularly those in the country illegally. 

"This is a really big victory, not just for Kansas and Arizona but for all 50 states," Kobach told The Associated Press. "Kansas has paved the way for all states to enact proof-of-citizenship requirements."

Arizona enacted its proof-of-citizenship requirement by voter initiative in 2004, and Alabama, Georgia and Kansas followed with similar laws. Kansas' rule took effect last year. 

Critics of such laws view them as suppressing voter participation. They also said the federal National Voter Registration Act, enacted in the 1990s, was meant to simplify registration across the country and allowed federal officials to reject a modification of the national form.

Jonathan Brater, legal counsel for the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice, said Melgren's ruling, if it stands, would erode Congress' power to protect voting rights. The center represented the national League of Women Voters and its Arizona and Kansas chapters, which intervened in the lawsuit. 

"There is a concern that other states could move to pass some of these misguided laws," Brater said. "There can be a copycat effect."

Read the rest of the story HERE.

"There can be a copycat effect." ... Well lets hope so!

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