News & Commentary

The ACLU has filed a legal challenge against SB 244 and Kobach’s anti-trans crackdown. In the meantime, Boatman and countless others live in constant limbo. The state’s clumsy rollout of its anti-trans policies means trans Kansans have had their documents revoked seemingly at random; Boatman, for example, still has her license, but lives on edge in anticipation of the day that may suddenly not be the case. She must nonetheless continue to work for and govern a state where she cannot use the women’s restroom in her own place of work.

Federal Department of Justice observers will monitor polling places in Johnson County on Tuesday, Election Day, as part of a historic expansion of its monitoring efforts that includes three of the most populous areas of Kansas. The department announced monitors will be in Wyandotte and Sedgwick counties as well as Johnson County.

Micah Kubic, executive director of ACLU of Kansas, said “the facts are clear: masked, unidentified men are recklessly storming our streets, surrounding cars, separating parents from children, then disappearing them into ICE’s creeping network of deplorable jails and prisons.”

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Kansas have challenged SB 244 in Douglas County District Court, arguing that the law violates constitutional protections. A hearing on a request for a preliminary injunction was scheduled to begin Sept. 29. The latest publicly available case information reviewed for this story did not establish the outcome of that hearing.

“Rather than strengthening democracy, [the amendments are] a political maneuver designed to justify future rollbacks of voting rights,” said Rashane Hamby with the ACLU of Kansas in testimony last year.

Opponents, like the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, say it’s already law that only citizens can vote, and passing this amendment could open the floodgates to problematic voting restrictions. Rashane Hamby, director of policy and research for the ACLU of Kansas, said “the language in (the amendment) could be weaponized to justify a return to restrictive voter registration laws, as it explicitly conditions voter eligibility on U.S. citizenship, despite no evidence of noncitizen voting.” Amii Castle, a law professor at the University of Kansas, worries it could open the gates for legislators to try the law that required registering voters to prove their citizenship again. That law was struck down by a federal judge.

The ACLU of Kansas will run a statewide, nonpartisan voter assistance hotline that can be reached at 866-687-8683. The hotline is also available in multiple languages:

The ACLU is looking at Kansas as one of the closest watched states this election cycle. “This year, we are keeping our eye on places like Iowa, Kansas, California and Maine,” said Deirdre Schifeling with the ACLU.

“We have definitely stepped up our election protection work and have the largest, most robust program we’ve ever had — covering more polling places with more volunteers and prepared for more scenarios,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas. “We are still recruiting, so I wouldn’t want to commit to numbers yet — but in August, we doubled the size of the program over prior years and anticipate doing the same for November.”