Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said this week that he will ask the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a lower court decision that says an estimated 18,000 voters who tried to register while renewing their drivers licenses must be allowed to vote, at least in federal elections.

But while that case is pending, parties on both sides are also awaiting a final decision from a state judge in Shawnee County whose ruling could expand the federal court order, enabling those voters to cast ballots in state and local races as well.

Judge Frank Theis, who frequently presides over cases involving major constitutional issues, is expected to issue a final ruling at any time in a case that challenges Kobach’s authority to hold a kind of bifurcated election in which some voters are only entitled to vote in federal elections.

In January, Theis ruled Kobach has no such authority to hold a bifurcated election. But Kobach later filed a motion asking Theis to reconsider, and all parties in the case are still waiting for Theis’ ruling on that motion.

Both the federal and state cases revolve around the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the “motor voter” law, that requires states to accept a uniform federal voter registration application, and to make registration available at a variety of public offices, including drivers license bureaus.

The issue in Kansas is that, until recently, those federal forms did not ask voters to show documentary proof of citizenship, which is a requirement under a state law Kobach championed but is not necessary under federal law.

During the 2014 elections, while a number of cases challenging the proof-of-citizenship law were in court, Kobach enacted a policy that said those voters who registered using the federal form could only cast ballots in federal races.

That policy affected only a handful of voters in 2014, but it threatens to affect many more than that this year if the policy is allowed to stand, and especially if the federal court order is also allowed to stand.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson issued an order that said the state must register those “motor voter” applicants and allow them to cast ballots, at least in federal races, because there is nothing in the motor voter law requiring those people to show proof of citizenship.

That federal court order has been put on hold until June 1, giving Kobach time to appeal and ask for an additional stay by the 10th Circuit. But if the appellate court declines to issue that stay, those 18,000 voters would immediately become eligible to vote in federal primary elections in August, and the federal general elections in November.

The question still pending is whether Theis will expand that by ordering again that they be able to vote in state and local races as well.

An official in Theis’ office said this week she could not speculate on when the judge would make his final ruling. Whichever way he decides, most observers assume his decision will be appealed to the Kansas Court of Appeals.