A legislative effort to repeal a Kansas law requiring new voters to show proof of U.S. citizenship when registering has stalled.

The House refused Tuesday to consider a proposal to rescind the policy, which took effect in January.

The proposal from Wichita Democrat Jim Ward would have allowed new voters to simply affirm that they are citizens, rather than requiring them to produce papers.

The Republican-controlled House ruled the proposal out of order. Ward offered it as an amendment to a bill revising a law on sentencing of some convicted murderers.

The registration law is designed to prevent non-citizens from voting. But the registrations of more than 15,000 legal Kansas residents are on hold because they have yet to provide proper documents.