Voting Rights

While the right to vote should be guaranteed to all eligible Americans, this fundamental constitutional right is constantly under attack.

voting

Citizen participation is crucial to our democracy.

In the past decade, numerous states, often led by Kansas, have attempted or successfully passed legislation limiting the right to vote. These efforts have included new identification and documentation requirements, cuts to early voting, and purges of voter rolls. Each of these attacks on voting rights disproportionately hurts people of color, students, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

The more recent wave of attacks on voting rights have been enabled by a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Shelby County v. Holder, where the justices struck down parts of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling prevented the federal government from providing meaningful oversight to state and local governments wanting to change their voting laws. Citing “progress” in the states, the Court opened the door for the creation of new restrictions on voting.

Kansas is at the epicenter of this movement to undermine the right to vote, and many eligible Kansas voters face unnecessary hurdles or are unable to access the ballot box. Lawmakers continue to push legislation that hampers the ability of Kansans to vote, mostly by creating limitations on mail-in voting and ballot boxes. Through collaboration and persistent work, we worked with partners and largely fended off these restrictions.

Having your vote heard through voting is central to our Kansas values and foundational to our democracy. That's why we're fighting for voting rights as a major part of our campaign REPRESENT! Reclaiming our Democracy and Restoring our Vote. This campaign aims to ensure representation for all Kansans by expanding early voting, increasing accessibility, and more.

The Latest

Publication | BLOG
244

Understanding the New Kansas Law Targeting Transgender People

This resource will be further developed as we have more information. If you or a loved one is impacted by Senate Bill 244 becoming a law, contact us by visiting aclu.org/KS_SB244 or by clicking the link in our bio. We want to hear from you.
Press Release
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ACLU of Kansas, Campaign Legal Center sue Sec. of State and Wyandotte County Election Commissioner over ‘brazen’ redistricting map

The ACLU of Kansas and the Campaign Legal Center, along with pro bono assistance from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, filed suit in Wyandotte County District Court Monday, seeking to block the recently enacted congressional redistricting map, claiming it is a partisan and racial gerrymander.
Issue Areas: Voting Rights
Press Release
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Through deal struck with Kansas government, registering to vote will be that much easier 

Kansans have additional opportunities to register to vote or update their voter registrations through two government agency offices across the state, thanks to an agreement between a coalition of civil rights agencies and the State of Kansas.
Issue Areas: Voting Rights
Press Release
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In resounding victory for tens of thousands of disenfranchised Kansas voters, Supreme Court refuses to hear “proof of citizenship” case

The United States Supreme Court Monday rejected an attempt to breathe new life into a draconian Kansas law requiring documentary proof of citizen for voter registration, finally closing the book on a law that has failed at federal and appellate court levels.
Issue Areas: Voting Rights
Court Cases: Fish v. Kobach
Legislation
Apr 09, 2026

Gut and Go: Adding Citizenship Status to Driver's Licenses

This reckless bill, which does nothing to strengthen election security or address any demonstrated vulnerabilities in Kansas elections, would require citizenship status to be listed on Kansas driver’s licenses. This is part of much larger, coordinated attack on civil rights and immigrant communities, raising serious concerns regarding privacy, discrimination, and public safety. Requiring citizenship status to appear on driver’s licenses would expose this personal information to employers, landlords, businesses, law enforcement, and private individuals, all contexts in which a person’s citizenship status is unnecessary. This unnecessary disclosure invites discrimination and profiling and creates a two-tiered system of identification that treats people differently based on immigration status.
Status: Vetoed by governor
Position: Oppose
Legislation
Apr 09, 2026

Bundled Bill: Stipulations of Election Legal Proceedings

This bill includes provisions that threaten to disenfranchise Kansans twice over. First, it relies on signature verification rules known to disenfranchise eligible voters. Second, it threatens to eliminate “no excuse” mail-in voting if courts intervene to protect those voters’ rights. Courts often intervene to address unconstitutional implementation practices, not to attack mail-in voting itself. Rather than fixing the problems with signature verification, this bill takes a far more extreme approach: if courts protect voters and their constitutional right to vote, the legislature will punish them. This is not good-faith policymaking, nor is this a strategy for election integrity. This is a recipe for voter suppression.
Status: Vetoed by governor
Position: Oppose
Legislation
Apr 09, 2026

Bundled Bill: Expanding Voter Purge Methods and Unsafe Data Sharing

This bill unnecessarily expands voter-purge mechanisms, relies on unreliable data sources, suppresses lawful civic engagement by non-governmental organizations, invites government misuse of personal information, and places unnecessary administrative burdens on state agencies. Database matching has a high error rate and has repeatedly resulted in eligible U.S. citizens being wrongly flagged or removed from the voter rolls. This bill does not address how data would be transferred or how this information would be protected. Compiling a list of already vulnerable residents poses serious threats to their safety. Furthermore, third-party voter registration has long played a crucial role in reaching young voters, first-time voters, rural Kansans, voters with limited internet access, and communities historically underrepresented in the electorate. Voter registration activity is not merely administrative—it is political speech protected by the First Amendment.
Status: Vetoed by governor
Position: Oppose
Legislation
Feb 20, 2026

Reporting Noncitizens Receiving Public Benefits

Requiring certain state agencies to make quarterly reports to the Secretary of State with the names, addresses, dates of birth, and the last four digits of Social Security Numbers of noncitizens receiving public benefits.
Status: Passed House