KANSAS: Secretary Of State Kris Kobach Held In Contempt Of Court For Failing To Notify Eligible Voters

The Topeka Capitol-Journal reports:

U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson has found Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach in contempt for failing to comply with her orders in a lawsuit over the state’s voter registration law. Robinson didn’t impose a fine but ordered Kobach to pay for damages caused by his failure to comply, including attorney fees. Robinson in 2016 issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the state’s proof of citizenship requirements, but the state continued to send notices to new applicants telling them they wouldn’t be allowed to vote. Before the November 2016 elections, Kobach told Robinson that counties would send postcards to notify those affected that they would be allowed to participate.

Talking Points Memo reports:

“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 said. “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.” She also took issue with Kobach’s refusal to update the state’s training manual for election officials to reflect her 2016 order blocking the proof-of-citizenship requirement