I updated my Kansas voter registration online. But the process left me with nagging questions.

A voter fills out an advance ballot on July 29, 2022, at the Shawnee County Elections Office. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Tuesday was the last day to update your voter registration for the November election.

I updated my voter registration because I have recently moved from Shawnee County to Douglas County and because I’m worried about the unfounded claims of large-scale voter fraud by immigrants. My vote matters, and we have seen attempts to remove voters. I still remember when Kris Kobach planned to remove 30,000 voter applications in 2015. His recent probe into voter fraud allegations in Kansas drew national attention.

Maybe this column will let Kansas officials know that I tried to fill out the paperwork correctly on their poorly designed website before the deadline.

I did a quick Google search for “update Kansas voter registration.” The first result links to the Kansas Secretary of State Elections Voter Registration office, overseen by Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican. I am already losing confidence in this application process after seeing the party. For years, Republicans have used allegations of voting fraud to discredit elections that don’t go their way and to make registration harder and voting more difficult.

The website states that a voter may update his or her registration for a name or address change, or to change party affiliation, by completing a new voter registration form. I’ve voted before. I am not a “new voter.”

I clicked on the update voter registration icon on the homepage and it took me to the new voter registration page. The site warns: “Please allow time for processing. Your county election officer will notify you when your voter registration is completed successfully or when further action is needed. If you have questions, please call 1-800-262-8683.”

To register to vote online, you must do the following:

Verify your voting eligibility. Verify that you have a valid driver’s license or non-driver’s identification card. Enter your personal information, review it and submit it. It also states if you do not have a valid driver’s license or non-driver’s identification card, you may register to vote using the following paper form. There’s an icon for the paper application that you click on so you can print off the paper application.

I proceeded with the online voter registration application. The questions are simple. Yes, I am a U.S. citizen. Yes, I will be 18 before Election Day. Yes, I am a resident of Kansas.

It asks whether you have a felony conviction. It says, “Please choose one.” No, I’ve never been convicted of a felony. No, I have not been convicted of a felony with all the terms of my sentence completed and my rights restored. No, I am not currently under sentence for a felony.

I pick “I have never been convicted of a felony.”

The next part of the process requires your name. It should match the name on your driver’s license or non-driver ID card. You enter your name, your date of birth and your driver’s license number, if you have one. To make sure, they ask you to enter your driver’s license number twice.

We can donate our organs after death at the DMV, but we can’t select a party affiliation. It would save everyone so much time and money. 

The form then asks for your voting residence address. It cannot be a P.O. Box. It asked me which county I reside in. I would assume at this point, in the age of artificial intelligence, that the combination of my address, state and ZIP code would auto-populate the county. Nonetheless, I entered my county: Douglas.

It asks whether my mailing address is different from my residential address. It asks whether my voting address has changed since my last registered vote. It asks for my previous street address. When entering data on the website, the previous street address field can only accommodate 20 characters, so I couldn’t enter my full apartment number. I hope the street address information will suffice. Again, I’m asked to enter the county I live in or previously lived in. It also asks my gender: female, male, or other.

The form asks for my party affiliation. I am not affiliated with a party. The options listed below are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, United, Kansas and no party affiliation.

I haven’t seen a political party advocate for the party I believe I’m part of: the working class. The minimum wage in Kansas hasn’t changed since 2010, at $7.25, and we still haven’t expanded Medicaid. Republicans have controlled the state politically for a long time, with a supermajority in both chambers with veto power.

Once you’ve entered all your information, the website shows everything you provided, then a box that states: “Check the box below if you agree with the following statement. I agree, under penalty of perjury, that I am a United States resident in Kansas and will be 18 years old before the next election. If convicted of a felony, my rights have been restored. I have abandoned my former residence and/or other name.”

I went ahead and hit the agree button.

Then it asks for your signature. Before you submit, the website warns you that submitting a false voter registration application could lead to a conviction and a sentence of up to 17 months in prison. This seems incredibly concerning.

Now I’m wondering. Did I pick the right county? Should I have included more information about my last residence, my apartment? Would they consider my registration false? Would they put me in prison for 17 months because of a clerical error out of my control? This seems pretty heavy-handed.

What prison sentences apply to parties who purposely remove names from the voter rolls before an election when they shouldn’t be removed?

Because I want to vote in the next election. I downloaded my registration as a PDF in case someone at the designated voting location asks about my updated address. I find this information necessary. As a brown person voting in Kansas, I’ve been questioned and poorly received a few times over the years at the polling place.”

I’m now registered to vote again. I look forward to participating in our democracy, if they let me.

This process shouldn’t be marred by fear; it should celebrate our civic duties as engaged citizens. We decide this state’s path. I’ve answered many questions to get to this point.

The only question I have left to ask is this: Will politicians running for office in Kansas concede defeat when the time comes, or will they cry foul? I still remember how Sen. Roger Marshall and Reps. Ron Estes, Tracy Mann, and Jake LaTurner refused to certify Joe Biden’s presidential election win to appease Donald Trump.

Huascar Medina is a poet, writer, and performer who lives in Topeka. His latest book is Protest as Love Poem. Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.