U.S. `Voter-Fraud' Activist Kobach Found in Contempt of Court

(Bloomberg) -- One of U.S. President Donald Trump’s leading voter-fraud investigators was ruled in contempt of court for flouting a judge’s orders to ensure that voters in his home state weren’t misled ahead of the 2016 general election.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who was vice chairman of the election integrity commission that the Trump administration disbanded in January, was cited Wednesday by the chief federal judge in Kansas for a “history of noncompliance and disrespect” for the court’s decisions.

In May 2016, Kobach lost a challenge to the Kansas Documentary Proof of Citizenship law brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. He then failed to comply with the court’s directive that he tell affected voters that they would be deemed registered and qualified to vote, according to the ruling by U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson.

For now, Kobach is required only to reimburse his adversaries for attorney fees. But Robinson said she may consider further remedial measures when she issues final findings in the case.

Kobach, a Republican running for governor of Kansas, last month represented his office in court defending the state’s voter-registration law and said that it had prevented between 1,000 and 18,000 noncitizens from voting. An ACLU attorney countered that the noncitizens accused by Kobach of illegally registering to vote and stealing elections “are not real,” according to the Associated Press.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Blumberg in San Francisco at pblumberg1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net.

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