Kansas City Corrects Voter Registration Problem

KANSAS CITY - Following a complaint from Advancement Project about outdated voter registration information on its Web site, Kansas City Board of Elections Director A. Shelley McThomas acted within two days to address the problem.

The Board of Elections web site was informing voters, incorrectly, that to register to vote, new applicants had to request a voter registration application and then wait to receive the form before filling it out and mailing it in. Under the old rules prior to 2006, the registration form had to be printed on paper of a certain weight to be valid.

But in 2006, Missouri’s secretary of state did away with that requirement and enabled voters to click on a link and download the form, which can be printed immediately, filled out and mailed to the clerk’s office, which should confirm receipt of the application within seven days.

Advancement Project Local Voter Protection Advocate Jamekia Kendrix notified McThomas after she received complaints from two coalition partners about the misleading information. Kendrix suggested that the Board of Elections link to the form on the secretary of state’s Web site and McThomas agreed, saying her office had received similar complaints and would take steps to address the problem. The link to the secretary of state’s voter application form has since been created.