TOPEKA (AP) – A key state senator is blocking a vote on Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s legislation requiring new Kansas voters to prove their U.S. citizenship ahead of this year’s presidential election.

Chairwoman Terrie Huntington said Friday she won’t have her Senate Ethics and Elections Committee meet again this year. The committee adjourned its last scheduled meeting Thursday without voting on Kobach’s bill.

Kansas has a law requiring people registering to vote for the first time in the state to provide proof of their citizenship, but it doesn’t take effect until January. Kobach wants to move the
effective date to June 15.

Kobach has said the panel could easily convene again.

Supporters also could ask the Senate to remove the bill from committee, but that takes a super majority vote.