Kris Kobach Quotes
… we have had many, many cases of non-citizens registered to vote prior to our new legislation.
At a Kansas State legislative hearing Kobach admitted that there only 5 cases that they had found of non-citizen voting, and 6 cases that were referred to prosecutors for alleged “double voting” (voting in Kansas and another state). The Prosecutors refused to go ahead with any of the alleged charges for lack of evidence. Mr. Kobach had a unique definition of “many, many”.
Kris W. Kobach, Secretary of State of Kansas (Republican), Chairman of Kansas Republican Party, Unsuccessful Candidate for Congress, Statement to the public about the Kansas problem of illegal voting, Quoted in New York Times, October 17, 2014
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Kobach had told the public that “illegal; voting” was a big problem in Kansas. See {642279}. The GAO report found that there had been hardly any problem at all.
They were voting on ignoring the fraudulent vote count in Dallas County, Alabama. The counter argument was that it would disenfranchise those honest voters of the country whose votes would not then be counted.
This quotation from Judge Posner was particularly meaningful because previously the judge had ruled that Voter ID was constitutional. Subsequently, Voter ID laws were passed by a number of states where many of the sponsors were found to intend voter suppression. Also, it was the case that there were so few voter fraud cases in the entire country that it was highly unlikely that for the prevention of a handful of improper votes all the money would be spent by the states to implement the Voter ID laws. The real motivation was most experts concluded was voter suppression. Posner had come to that conclusion also as this quotation demonstrates.
Comparing America's voter registration procedures with those of other industrialized democracies:
In the beginning of the 21st century, many republican state legislatures attempted to change the voting laws to eliminate the possibility of voter fraud which was not a serious practical problem in America. However, a consequence—some argue indented and some argue unintended—was that it was harder for certain groups of people to meet the new requirements and therefore was a de facto voter suppression for some people such as the very elderly, the homeless, and the poor. Many of these efforts were declared unconstitutional by the courts.
- Born: March 26, 1966
- Nationality: American
- Profession: Politician
Kris William Kobach is an American politician who served as the 31st Secretary of State of Kansas. A former Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach came to national prominence over his far-right anti-immigration views, including involvement in the implementation of high-profile anti-immigration ordinances in various American cities. Kobach is also known for his calls for stronger voter ID laws in the United States, a national registry of immigrants and visitors from countries with active extremist organizations, and his advocacy for anti-abortion legislation. He has made claims about the extent of voter fraud in the United States that studies and fact-checkers have concluded are false or unsubstantiated.
