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Kansas lawmakers are taking steps to strengthen voter confidence after concerns arose over a non-citizen holding public office. Pat Proctor, chairman of the state House Elections Committee, said the issue prompted a review of voter eligibility rules in Kansas.

“Did you know that nowhere in Kansas statute and nowhere in the Kansas Constitution does it actually say you have to be a citizen to vote? Because it was so obvious nobody ever wrote it down,” said Proctor. “I’m like, hey, that’s low hanging fruit, we can solve that problem right now. So, I sponsored and got 46 co-sponsors for a constitutional amendment. It’s going to be on the ballot November of 2026.”

The amendment would make it explicit that only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in Kansas. In addition to the constitutional amendment, new enforcement measures will use DMV data to identify non-citizens on voter rolls. In 2024, 80 non-citizens were found registered to vote, and investigations are ongoing to determine if any voted.

“The other thing that the legislature did is we passed a law that says every quarter, every three months, the DMV has to share that data with the Secretary of State’s office that can scrub the voter rolls,” he said. “And it’s not about there’s some vast conspiracy for non citizens to vote in the state of Kansas because I just don’t I haven’t seen any evidence of that. It’s about confidence and it’s about when people have that concern, we can tell them no, we know non citizens are voting because every quarter we scrub the voter rolls.”

Proctor said the goal is not to suggest widespread illegal voting, but to maintain public confidence. Proctor explained that the goal is to reassure the public by demonstrating that the system is monitored and voter rolls are accurate.