Leading Kansas Democrat under scrutiny for backing voter ID

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The leading Democratic candidate for Kansas governor is under attack for her past backing of tough voter identification policies as her party prepares for the possibility that the champion of those measures, conservative Kris Kobach, will win the Republican nomination.

Democrats have regularly criticized Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, over policies they believe suppress voter turnout. No state had gone further in requiring prospective voters to provide papers documenting their U.S. citizenship when registering, until a federal judge struck down the law in June as a violation of voting rights.

But the Kansas law had strong bipartisan support when the Legislature approved it in 2011, and one of the yes votes came from state Sen. Laura Kelly, of Topeka. That vote has dogged Kelly in the final weeks before the Aug. 7 primary, with her two main rivals — who were not lawmakers at the time — hoping Democratic voters turn away from her because of it.

"How can we have as the standard-bearer for the party someone who voted with Kris Kobach, really, on his signature issue?" one of them, former Kansas Agriculture Secretary Joshua Svaty, said during an interview after raising the issue in forums.

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