As Trump pushes voting restrictions, states have a rarely used option to push back

[RandySF]

OTTAWA, Kan. — When Kansas began requiring residents to prove their U.S. citizenship before voting more than a decade ago, Steven Wayne Fish tried and failed.

A first-time father in his 30s at the time, he wanted a say in debates over public school funding despite having never voted before. But Fish, who was born on a since-decommissioned Air Force base in Illinois, couldn’t find his birth certificate, leaving him unable to register for the 2014 general election.

A federal court eventually blocked the Kansas law following a lawsuit in which Fish was the namesake plaintiff. For years, the Fish legal case served as a warning to politicians who wanted voters to produce documents proving their citizenship.

That’s changing, as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress try to impose a similar proof-of-citizenship voter registration requirement nationwide through a long-shot proposal called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or SAVE America Act.



https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-pushes-voting-restrictions-states-have-rarely-used-option-push-back

[WestMichRad]

1. Bifurcation

Key point of article was missed in the summary provided here:
States may impose different voter requirements on voters in state and local elections than those required for elections of candidates to federal offices (US Congress and presidency). It’s generally not done because of added cost and administrative burdens.
At present, it appears that Arizona is the only state to do this. They require proof of citizenship for state and local elections, but not for federal ones.