Earlier this week, the ACLU of Kansas learned that an employee in the Franklin County Clerk’s office had advised a voter registration advocate that people who register to vote using the national voter registration form will not be allowed to vote in local elections in Franklin County.

This practice of maintaining dual voter registration lists to prevent people who registered to vote at the DMV or by using the federal registration form has been deemed illegal by two different judges sitting on the Shawnee County District Court, who mandated that every eligible Kansas voter be allowed to vote in local, state, and national elections, regardless of his method of registration.

On June 28, Doug Bonney, Legal Director of the ACLU of Kansas, sent a letter to Janet Paddock, Franklin County Clerk, to relay the legal implications of the county’s policy.