voting rights

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed dozens of bills, but Republicans overrode a majority to force the measures into law — including restrictions on student protesters, funding for anti-abortion centers, and more power for landlords.

The U.S. House has passed a version of the SAVE Act that requires people to produce additional documents if they are registering to vote with a different name than the one on their birth certificate. Critics say it disproportionately affects women, transgender individuals and others who've changed their name.

The U.S. Department of Justice claimed in court it already has sensitive data on voters so it can check for people who should not be registered. However, the Kansas secretary of state said none of that information has been shared.

Rep. Melanie Stinnett, a Springfield Republican, sponsored the bipartisan bill that could give voting rights back to more than 53,000 Missourians. It passed the Missouri House 107-36, and is now waiting for action in the Senate.

The state House has approved legislation that would allow more than 53,000 people supervised by the state to vote.

Passed by Republican lawmakers last year, Amendment 4 would require a majority of voters in every Missouri congressional district to approve a proposed constitutional amendment for it to pass. That would allow a small minority of voters to defeat petition campaigns.

Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican who is running for secretary of state, and Rep. Paul Waggoner, a Hutchinson Republican, also want to require driver’s licenses to indicate citizenship status, in an effort to stamp out the already-rare instances of noncitizen voting.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, going against a century of precedent, declared that the Republican-favoring congressional map took effect Dec. 11, even though opponents had submitted enough signatures to likely force a statewide referendum.

Some Republican election officials have broken with the president on nationalizing elections, even as they have avoided criticizing him directly. That includes Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who also told lawmakers he wouldn’t provide the state’s full voter list to the feds without a court order.

Kansas lawmakers say that requiring driver's licenses to list legal status would reduce noncitizen voting — something that is exceedingly rare. One study says suspected cases happen just 0.0001% of the time.

The report uses Kansas and Arizona to illustrate the unforeseen financial costs of executing documentary proof of citizenship laws as they gain traction in Congress and statehouses nationwide.

The U.S. Supreme Court appears ready to strike down parts of the Voting Rights Act that protects minority-majority congressional districts. Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt said the St. Louis-based 1st Congressional District may be redrawn next.