photo by: Associated Press

? Dale Weber of Wichita officially became a registered voter Wednesday after the Kansas secretary of state and attorney general agreed to acknowledge his U.S. citizenship, making him eligible to cast a ballot in the Nov. 8 elections.

But another 7,179 people who have attempted to register, either online or using a state mail-in form, still may not be able to vote unless they provide the required proof of citizenship by Monday, Nov. 7.

Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Attorney General Derek Schmidt met Wednesday as the State Elections Board to consider the 49-year-old man’s case. Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, who is also a member of the board, was not present.

Speaking by phone, Weber stated that he was born on a military base in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1967 to parents who were U.S. citizens and native Kansans. But when he attempted to register online, Kobach said, he was unable to submit documents proving his U.S. citizenship.

Weber said those documents were inside his trailer home, which had recently been seized by his landlord so he did not have access to them.

Kobach said the case fell within the scope of a federal law that says people born outside the United States to parents of U.S. citizens are themselves citizens.

But to verify that, Weber was asked to state in an open meeting, attended by several reporters, the names of his parents, including his mother’s maiden name, and their dates of birth.

That information coincided with information on his parents’ Kansas birth certificates, which Kobach’s office had retrieved from the Office of Vital Statistics. Kobach and Schmidt then voted to confirm his citizenship and finalize his voter registration.

Weber’s case illustrates the length to which some voters must go in order to register in Kansas under the state’s strict voting laws. His was the fifth case that has gone before the Elections Board since that law took effect Jan. 1, 2013.

Since then, tens of thousands of people who attempted to register but did not provide the necessary citizenship documents have had their registrations placed “in suspense.” And under a new regulation that Kobach’s office adopted last year, those applications are canceled if the person does not complete the process within 90 days.

Asked whether it was appropriate to require someone to provide such detailed personal information in a public meeting — information that could be used for identity theft — Kobach indicated that was something he hadn’t thought about.

“That begs the question, should this be closed to the press,” Kobach said. “The other thing I suppose we could have done is … we could have closed that information off to you (reporters) and possibly have you step out while he verified that information.”

Earlier this year, a combination of federal and state court rulings effectively invalidated the proof of citizenship law for people who registered using a federal mail-in form or who registered through a local motor vehicle office when renewing their driver’s license.

Federal courts have said the state’s law conflicts with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which says states must recognize voter registrations made on a federal form, which does not ask for proof of citizenship.

Initially, the federal court ruling only meant those voters could vote in federal races for president, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. But a state court judge in Topeka later said those voters must also be allowed to vote in state and local elections because there is no legal authority for keeping separate voter rolls for different classes of voters.

Bryan Caskey, chief of elections in the secretary of state’s office, said 11,597 people have been added to the voter rolls statewide as a result of those rulings. Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said about 300 people were added to the local voter rolls as a result of those rulings.

But Caskey said those court rulings do not apply to another 7,179 voter registrations who, as of Wednesday, were still being held “in suspense” because the applicants used a state registration form or tried to register on the state’s online voter registration site and still have not provided documents proving they are U.S. citizens. That includes abut 400 voters in Douglas County who fall into that category, Shew said.

Kobach is scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday to announce the final voter registration totals and announce the expected voter turnout for the Nov. 8 elections.