KS LULAC and Rangel-Lopez v. Cox

  • Latest Update: Oct 26, 2018
Dodge City LOL

*UPDATE*: On January 25, 2019, the ACLU of Kansas filed a voluntary motion to dismiss without prejudice. The defense did not oppose this motion.

On November 1, 2018, the federal district court denied our motion for a temporary restraining order, citing further voter confusion. Read our release on the decision here. On November 16, Ms. Cox filed a motion to dismiss (below) and we filed out response in opposition on December 7.


On October 26, 2018, the ACLU of Kansas filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order against Ford County Clerk Deborah Cox on behalf of the Kansas League of United Latin American Citizens and Alejandro Rangel-Lopez. This suit came after Ms. Cox rejected the ACLU of Kansas' other efforts to resolve the issue without litigation and citizens' efforts to appeal to her for nearly a year. These efforts included our first October 3 letter, repeated phone calls and meeting attempts, a follow-up letter sent on October 16, and one on October 19.

SEE THE FULL TIMELINE

For years, Dodge City has a single poll at the Civic Center with over 13,000 registered voters assigned to it. It was used in the primary election of August 2018. Citing construction and voter safety, in late fall of 2018 Ms. Cox moved the poll to the Expo Center—a location over a mile from any bus stop, without a sidewalk along the route, and, on average, twice as far as the Civic Center from the city’s largest employers.

Construction has not stopped other events at the Civic Center the same week as the election. There are also 12 other public school buildings the superintendent has pledged to make available, but Ms. Cox did not inquire into other possible ADA compliant building in Dodge City that could serve as a temporary polling location. Ms. Cox increased the already significant challenges voters will face by providing both inadequate and incorrect information about the polling location change by directing them to the Civic Center and not the new, temporary polling location.

Ford County is a majority-minority county, largely due to the demographics of Dodge City. Hispanic residents make up approximately 53% of the county's population, five times the percentage of Hispanic residents in Kansas, and the county's poverty rate much higher than the rest of Kansas, largely based on the Dodge City demographics. In Ford County, a significant number of people in Dodge are dependent on public transit because of income, age, and disability.

Ford County Clerk Deborah Cox has severely burdened Dodge City residents' right to vote. We're suing.

With polling site added in Dodge City, ACLU files motion to dismiss voting access case

Plaintiffs in a voting access case filed a motion Friday to dismiss their lawsuit after Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox earlier this week announced the opening of two polling sites in Dodge City.

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Lauren Bonds: She should stop paying her lawyer and start doing her job.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Ford County is more concerned with trying to save face than protecting its residents’ right to vote.

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Ford County taxpayer total nearing $100k to defend clerk in voting case

The total price to defend Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox in a voting rights lawsuit is nearing $100,000. That bill goes to taxpayers in the county.

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I’m from Dodge City. Our voting rights are under attack.

This is what happens when democracy is left in the hands of those who don’t care about their neighbor’s rights.

Alejandro Rangel Lopez

Dodge City’s out-of-town polling place adds to fears of voter suppression in Kansas

After the ACLU objected to Dodge City’s single, out-of-town polling place, the local official in charge of elections forwarded to the state an ACLU letter asking her to publicize a voter help line. “LOL,” she wrote in an email to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office.

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New voters get notices listing wrong Dodge City polling site

Local election officials are now scrambling to notify newly registered voters who might be confused by its official registration notice that listed only their regular polling site — not the temporary site for the November election.

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ACLU of Kansas letter to Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox

On October 3, 2018, the ACLU of Kansas wrote a letter to Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox addressing both historical polling place concerns and immediate concerns related to the relocation of a single, heavily burdened Dodge City polling site. 

One polling location in Dodge City for 13,136 voters? Do Better.

ACLU of Kansas Follow-Up Letter to Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox

In the second, October 16 letter, the ACLU of Kansas strongly urges Ms. Cox take the following steps to remedy the polling location concerns of Ford County and especially Dodge City.

dodge city needs more polls.

ACLU concerned with voter rights in Dodge City; Kobach’s office says no problem exists

The ACLU of Kansas said Tuesday it is concerned about voters’ rights in Dodge City because of the location of the city’s lone, temporary polling place, but the office of Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach contends no problem exists.

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ACLU: Dodge City polling site limits voter access

ACLU of Kansas this month relayed concerns it has heard about polling places in Dodge City to Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox.

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Response to Ford County Administrator J.D. Gilbert

Ford County Administrator J.D. Gilbert’s statement is a thinly veiled attempt to shift the embarrassing responsibility of spending $90,000 and counting on a lawsuit rather than simply opening more polling places as Dodge City constituents have most reasonably asked.

dodge city needs more polls

Related News & Podcasts

News & Commentary
Jan 28, 2019
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With polling site added in Dodge City, ACLU files motion to dismiss voting access case

Plaintiffs in a voting access case filed a motion Friday to dismiss their lawsuit after Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox earlier this week announced the opening of two polling sites in Dodge City.
News & Commentary
Jan 04, 2019
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Lauren Bonds: She should stop paying her lawyer and start doing her job.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Ford County is more concerned with trying to save face than protecting its residents’ right to vote.
News & Commentary
Jan 09, 2019
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Ford County taxpayer total nearing $100k to defend clerk in voting case

The total price to defend Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox in a voting rights lawsuit is nearing $100,000. That bill goes to taxpayers in the county.
News & Commentary
Oct 11, 2018
Alejandro Rangel Lopez

I’m from Dodge City. Our voting rights are under attack.

This is what happens when democracy is left in the hands of those who don’t care about their neighbor’s rights.

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THE DODGE CITY POLL: A TIMELINE

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Statement from LULAC State Director, Madaí Rivera

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ACLU of KS Oct. 19 letter to Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox re: Election Protection

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Transportation for voters seems covered—but we're not finished.