Last fall, the courts repeatedly shot down Kobach’s attempt to keep Democrat Chad Taylor on the U.S. Senate ballot. (“The law is very clear,” Kobach said at the time. Apparently, not clear enough.)
He pushed through a voter ID law. He tried to limit some registrants to casting ballots only in federal races. He now wants the right to prosecute voter fraud.
Does anyone think Kobach took those steps to make voting easier? No.
Don’t let Democrats off the hook. Already some in Kansas are saying straight-ticket voting is bad for democracy, the exact opposite of what Missouri Democrats said in 2006 when they fought to protect the practice. Partisan Democrats wanted to keep Taylor off the ballot.
If Kansas is truly interested in voter convenience, it could combine straight-ticket voting with same-day registration, like Iowa. More mail-in elections would be good, too.
Voting should be convenient, accurate, widely available — and fair. It should not be a place for partisan games.