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THE GAZETTE, EMPORIA, KANSAS
“When I came to Emporia as a proprietor I could
hire a fairly good printer for $1 a day, and the day
was eleven hours and often more without overtime.”
WL W
V
V
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February 20 and 21, 2016
“If you lead a horse to water, you will be surprised
about how often and how much he will drink.”
WILLIAM LINDSAY WHITE
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE
TEG
VISUAL VOICES
William Allen White, 1895-1944
William Lindsay White, 1944-1973
Kathrine Klinkenberg White, 1973-1988
Christopher White Walker
Editor and Publisher
—
Ashley Knecht Walker
Editor
NEWSROOM
Brandy Lee Nance
Online and News Editor
—
Regina Denise Murphy
Features Editor
MANAGEMENT
Margie Sue McHaley
Production Manager
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Heather Dale Wedel
Advertising Manager
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Leann Marie Sanchez
Regional Publications
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Barbara White Walker
Senior Editor
—
Paul David Walker
Publisher Emeritus
EDITORIAL
Uncertainty
confuses voters
A recent decision by the new executive director
of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission once
again has put Kansas voting laws in the spotlight.
Whether residents of Kansas and a few other
states could circumvent a state proof-of-citizenship
requirement by using a federal voter registration
form had been the subject of considerable debate
in recent years. Kansas Secretary of State Kris
Kobach had tried to force the EAC to change the
federal form, which requires applicants to swear
they are citizens, to conform to Kansas law, which
requires registrants to provide documents to prove
their citizenship.
When the courts ruled that states can’t force
people registering with the federal form to show
proof of citizenship, Kobach began operating a
dual election system in Kansas. That system allowed voters registered with the federal form to
cast provisional ballots but allowed their votes to
be counted only in federal races for president and
Congress. After a Shawnee County District Court
judge ruled last month that Kobach had no authority to operate a two-tiered voting system, it appeared that voters could fully register with federal
forms and bypass the state law.
That is, until EAC executive director Brian
Newby stepped onto the scene.
Interestingly, before Newby was hired as executive director of the EAC, he had worked for 11
years as the Johnson County election commissioner. Kobach had reappointed Newby in 2014, praising him as “a source of innovation and improvement in Kansas elections for the past decade.”
Newby started his new job in November. On Nov.
17, Kobach’s office sent a letter asking the EAC to
add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal registration forms used in Kansas. On Jan. 29,
despite the court rulings and without consulting
with the appointed members of the EAC, Newby
granted that request.
So, yet another element of confusion and controversy has been injected into the Kansas election
system. The courts say people using the federal
form don’t have to present proof of citizenship, but
the head of the EAC says that, if they live in Kansas, they do. Newby said his action was within his
authority, but at least one EAC commissioner says
it wasn’t. If the EAC decision is reversed, will Kansas voters be able to fully register using the federal
form, thereby undermining the state’s proof-ofcitizenship law? If the EAC decision stands, a dual
election system would seem unnecessary, but what
happens to Kansas voters who already have registered with the federal form?
With Kansas primaries only about six months
away, the state needs to get these questions resolved in a manner that conforms with federal law
and facilitates registration of qualified voters. The
current chaos in Kansas registration laws is both a
deterrent to voter participation and a disservice to
the state.
Lawrence Journal-World
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The Emporia Gazette, Drawer C, Emporia, KS 66801;
e-mailed to [email protected]; or faxed to
342-8108. Letters must be no longer than 300 words,
be signed and contain an address and daytime phone
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Gazette does not publish poetry or letters solely about
personal religious beliefs.
SOUNDS LIKE KANSAS
Aunt Cora
MY GREAT-AUNT CORA
had not crossed my mind for
some time. Then last week
I ran across a book she gave
to me when I was maybe 9 or
10.
While I’ve always appreciated the gift, I’ve also always
wondered what possessed her
to give a child Norman Vincent
Peale’s The Power of Positive
Thinking.
I don’t know whether I
looked like a melancholy kid or
whether she just wanted to pass
on a book that had meant a lot
to her. Since I was a fairly happy
youngster, I assume it was the
latter.
Now I didn’t know Aunt Cora
well at all. On my family’s annual
visits to Arkansas to spend time
with my maternal grandparents,
we’d drive around Fayetteville to
visit my great aunts and uncles.
Aunt Cora was a retired
teacher and she could still throw
a look, so my brother and I did
what was expected of us — we
sat quietly on uncomfortable
furniture for 45 minutes while
the adults talked about people
we didn’t know.
After several years of these
annual visits, my brother and
I were surprised when one day
Aunt Cora brought out a basket
of toys for us to play with. The
next year, she told us that we
could each take two toys home
with us. I selected tiny plastic
animals — a pink elephant and
a squirrel with a retractable
tape measure attached to the
nut in its mouth.
It was the following year that
Aunt Cora said something like,
“I want y