Kris Kobach and the American Civil Liberties Union are frequent sparring partners in court, which made the ACLU’s kickoff of a national “Let People Vote” campaign Sunday in Lawrence that much more interesting.
The ACLU arrived in the state with the nation’s toughest registration laws, pushed through by Kobach’s secretary of state’s office, and said it would go state by state to make it easier for Americans to register.
“This event is an important way of kicking off the national movement to defend voting rights in a place where it has been most under attack for the last six years,” said Micah Kubic, Kansas director for the ACLU.
Kubic also kicked off a statewide initiative called Kansas Coalition for Citizen Participation. Its goals are to repeal Kobach’s strict registration laws, including a photo ID requirement; enact Election Day registration; expand early voting; withdraw from the nationwide crosscheck system, which the ACLU says eliminates eligible voters from rolls because of bad data; and allow for permanent advance voting.
Kubic told The Eagle editorial board last week that he hopes recent elections, resulting in a more moderate legislature, create more energy for change.
The others are tougher sells, though it should be noted that of the 16 states that have Election Day registration, seven (plus four of Maine’s five congressional district electors) went for President Trump in November’s election. But same-day registration is an un-Kobach as it comes.