Blocked From Voting, Kansans Get Their Day In Court With Kris Kobach

KANSAS CITY, Kan. ― In mid-October, on the last day he could register to vote ahead of the Nov. 4, 2014, midterm elections, Charles Stricker went to the DMV in Wichita. When he checked in, Stricker, who had just moved to Kansas, was told he didn’t have all the documents he needed to get a driver’s license. So he went home, put all the documents together and rushed back to the DMV. He wanted to make sure he got there in time because at the DMV he could do both: get his license and register to vote in time.

He showed the DMV clerk the folder of documents he brought, including his birth certificate from Missouri, and thought he had successfully registered to vote. The officials at the DMV told him his permanent license and voter information would come in the mail in a few weeks

Stricker, who is 37 and works as a hotel manager, went to vote with his wife when the polls opened on Nov. 4. By that time he had gotten his permanent driver’s license, but when he went to sign in at the polls, they told him his name wasn’t on the list. He thought it was a mistake, maybe because he had registered at the last minute, and he asked to speak with the person in charge to try and figure out what the problem was. Eventually he was given a provisional ballot, but instead of getting a private booth to fill out his ballot like everyone else, he was sent to a white plastic table, where everyone could see how he was marking his votes. He could see who the person next to him was voting for, and he was pretty sure she could see who he was voting for. He said he felt humiliated. a

Source: huffingtonpost