Court Orders Immediate Halt to Kansas Dual Voter Registration System

TOPEKA, Kan. — A state court has ordered an immediate halt to Kansas’ dual voter registration system, meaning thousands of Kansans will have their votes counted for federal, state, and local elections in the August primary and November general elections.

The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the dual system, which allows some Kansans to vote for federal offices but not state and local offices, due solely to their method of registration. Secretary of State Kris Kobach recently pushed a temporary regulation through the state administrative board, aimed at formalizing this system; the ACLU was in court today asking it be blocked. Judge Larry Hendricks agreed in a ruling issued orally from the bench.

Sophia Lakin, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, responded:

“This ruling is a strong rebuke of Secretary Kobach’s efforts to obstruct voters. It means that all qualified voters will now be permitted to vote for federal, state, and local offices without interference with their ballots.”

At least 17,500 Kansans who registered to vote through the Division of Vehicles and were recently added to the voting rolls via a federal court order stemming from an ACLU lawsuit are affected by the ruling.

More information is at: https://www.aclu.org/cases/brown-v-kobach