News & Commentary written by Wayne Fish

Back to News & Commentary

Wayne Fish

Bio

Wayne Fish got his first Kansas driver’s license more than 20 years ago. He renewed his driver’s license as necessary over the years, without any problems.

Two years ago, he went to the DMV in Lawrence, Kansas, to renew his driver’s license. The clerk asked if he wanted to register to vote.

"I had never before registered to vote, but because education is very important to me and because the state government has been cutting school budgets in the past few years, I decided to register to vote in August 2014 when I renewed my driver’s license,” Fish said.

The clerk at the DMV didn’t ask him to provide any proof of citizenship when he registered to vote.

But Fish was unable to vote in the next election because, the County Clerk of Douglas County, Kansas, informed him, his name was never added to the voter registration rolls since he had not provided a birth certificate, passport, or other acceptable documentary proof of citizenship in order to complete the voter registration process.

Fish does not have a copy of his birth certificate and doesn’t know where to obtain one because he was born on a military base in Illinois that has been closed for decades. He doesn’t have a passport and has a limited income