News & Commentary

Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said the main reason Illinois is withdrawing from the Kansas-administered Crosscheck is to create a new data sharing agreement with Indiana.

“We have made it clear we would cooperate,” said USD 443 Board of Education President Lisa Killion told The News this week. Killion said she thinks the decision is clearly up to Ford County Clerk/Election Official Debbie Cox.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas alleged in a lawsuit filed last year that “reckless maintenance” of the program has exposed sensitive voter information.

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.

Shadowed by a lawsuit and mounting legal fees over voting access for its residents, Ford County is expected to finalize and announce two new polling locations in Dodge City that will be used for the August primary and November general elections this year.

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.

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

“Cox has repeatedly argued that Ford County couldn’t afford to open additional polling locations but it seems to us that $70,000 could easily cover the costs associated with additional poll workers and materials.”

Shouldn’t we have a system that treats all Kansans the same? Why should our right to vote depend on the county where we reside? Is this really the best Kansas can do?