Kansas mulls Kobach voter ID, citizenship plans.

By: JOHN HANNA 03/23/11 5:05 AM

AP Political Writer

By: AP Photo/John Hanna

Kansas state Sen. Terrie Huntington, right, a Fairway Republican, explains the contents of a bill requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls to her fellow GOP senators during a caucus, Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan.

Huntington is chairwoman of the Senate Ethics and Election Committee, and watching to her left is Sen. Vicki Schmidt, a Topeka Republican. The Kansas Senate has approved a bill containing Secretary of State Kris Kobach's proposal to require voters to show photo identification at the polls.

The vote Wednesday was 36-3.

The Senate version of the bill still includes Kobach's proposal to require people registering to vote for the first time in Kansas to prove they're citizens, but that would be delayed until 2013. Kobach and the House wanted that provision to take effect next year.

The Senate's version of the bill also omits proposals from Kobach to increase penalties for election crimes and to give the secretary of state's office the authority to file and prosecute voter fraud cases in state courts.

House and Senate negotiators are likely to draft the final version of the bill.

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