Kobach held in contempt in voter registration case

A federal judge held Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) in contempt on Wednesday for repeatedly skirting court orders related to a blocked state voter registration law.

In a court order, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson tore into Kobach, an outspoken proponent of stricter voting laws, for failing to send postcards notifying thousands of voters of their registration. 

Those voters had previously been blocked from registering under a Kansas state law Kobach had pushed for because they were not able to provide proof of citizenship during registration. 

{mosads}Robinson blocked that law during the 2016 election. 

“Kansans have come to expect these postcards to confirm their registration status, and Defendant ensured the Court on the record that they had been sent prior to the 2016 general election,” Robinson wrote in her order.

“They were not, and the fact that he sent a different notice to those voters does not wholly remove the contempt, nor does his attempt to resend postcards eighteen months after the election and five months after Plaintiffs notified him of the issue.”

The order comes nearly a month after a contempt hearing, in which Robinson chastised Kobach for failing to fully comply with court orders. 

Kobach, a candidate for Kansas governor and a former vice-chair of President Trump’s voter fraud commission, is among the most ardent advocates for laws tightening voter registration processes. Opponents of such laws argue that they unnecessarily restrict people, particularly minority voters, from casting ballots, and have failed to prove that voter fraud is a widespread problem.

As part of the contempt ruling, Robinson ordered Kobach to pay the attorneys fees of the plaintiff in the case, the American Civil Liberties Union.