News & Commentary

Kansas ACLU policy director Aileen Berquist said runoff elections discouraged voter engagement and were based on discriminatory practices that began in the Jim Crow era to disenfranchise Black voters.

Organization wants to eliminate fees for children and legalize medical marijuana

Federal Judge Julie Robinson said in an order on Thursday that the tape is not part of the judicial record. The order prevents the American Civil Liberties Union from releasing the tape.

Kansas ACLU’s Legal Director Lauren Bond described potential issues the hotline could be used for.

News articles that feature the ACLU of Kansas' voting rights effort in the state.

Doug Bonney, Legal Director of ACLUKS testifies on Wednesday, September 2nd at the State Capitol against K.A.R. 7-23-15, which would impose a 90 day period during which voter registration applicants would be required to complete all of the voter registration requirements under Kansas law. K.A.R. 7-23-15(b).Read his testimony and news coverage on the hearing below.

In the Kansas City Star on August 30th, Kris Kobach proposes throwing out over 30,000 incomplete voter registration applicants due to failure to provide the "proof of citizenship" documents now-required by the Secretary of State's office. The ACLU of Kansas weighed in below."Doug Bonney, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said election officials have long kept incomplete applications “in suspense,” prior to the new proof-of-citizenship requirements, and there was never a need to clear the records.So why should there be a time limit now that it’s more difficult to register? he asked.“I don’t see any reason to limit it,” Bonney said, “except that with 30,000 now on the list, it’s gotten to be an embarrassment for Kobach.”

Under Senate Bill 34, Secretary of State Kris Kobach would make violation of advance voting statutes or attempting to vote when not qualified a felony rather than a misdemeanor. It would be a higher-grade felony to vote when not qualified, engage in election tampering or falsely impersonate a voter. The bill will also give prosecutorial power to Kobach.Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, said the proposal could penalize individuals who unintentionally failed to follow the correct process in voting. He said there was potential that nursing home residents with aging minds could get hauled before the court for mistakenly breaking a voting law.“Voting-related crimes are exceedingly, exceptionally rare, and even then are most often the result of mistakes like voting in one’s old precinct after having moved to a nearby neighborhood, rather than a willful attempt to subvert an election, but if they occur, should be taken seriously," Kubic said.Read the entire article on the Topeka Capital-Journal from January 30th, 2015.

Doug Bonney, Legal Director of the ACLU of Kansas recently gave a speech at the Take Back Kansas convention held in Wichita, KS. Doug's speech highlights why the defense of the right to vote matters today, especially in the state of Kansas.