'Wildly varied access to democracy across the state': ACLU study identifies faults in Kansas election system

TOPEKA (KSNT) - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kansas released the results of a new study identifying areas where election access could be improved in the state.

In the ACLU's "All Democracy is (Still) Local" study, the organization finds that voters across Kansas have "wildly varied access to democracy across the state." The study provides an outline on how Kansans' abilities to exercise their right to cast a vote is impacted by local policies and practices which result from local election officials.

“As we consider the upcoming holiday and our nation’s values, we must also reckon with the work that remains to fully realize the promise of America,” said Micah Kubic, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kansas. “That includes especially here in the Free State, where we can and should build a culture that makes voting accessible to every eligible Kansas and celebrates what it means to have a strong democracy.”

The ACLU claims that the Sunflower State has "an especially decentralized system" as each county's respective election officials determine how to run elections and deciding whether to take a proactive stance in protecting the voting rights of the community.

“Without any change to current state law, Kansas election officials are fully authorized to strengthen democracy in their own counties,” Kubic said. “However, our report finds that many Kansas voters face long lines, inconvenient hours, or lack of information when it comes to casting a ballot. Many of the commonsense solutions proposed in this report simply meet the needs of everyday Kansans who are balancing work, family, and busy schedules with ensuring their voices are heard in the democratic process.”

The ACLU study makes a connection between counties with more diverse populations, such as Seward, Geary, Finney, Ford, Meade and Wyandotte, with low voter turnout data collected during the 2022 election. These counties are home to significant populations of people identifying as Latino, Black, Asian and Native American compared to other counties in Kansas. Other major findings of the ACLU study include the following:

• No counties utilize the entire early voting period, but those that offer more days of early voting have higher turnout.
• Voter turnout could go up by several percentage points if the early voting period were fully utilized.
• Most counties offer very little flexibility in the hours when voting is available; those that do have higher turnout.
• Most counties offer very little flexibility in the hours when voting is available; those that do have higher turnout.
• Counties with several early voting locations have higher turnout.
• Many polling locations are overcrowded, and overcrowded polls is related to lower turnout rates.
• Curbside voting is not widely available.
• Information about permanent advance voting status is scarce
• Few counties, even highly diverse ones, offer election materials in languages in addition to English.
• Most counties do little to guarantee the voting rights of eligible voters who are in jail.

Based on these findings, the ACLU proposes the following:

• Increasing the early voting period and the actual number of days within the period
• Increasing early voting access outside of business hours.
• Increasing the number of early voting locations.
• Opening the Election Day locations for less crowded polls.
• Ensuring meaningful curbside voting at all polling locations.
• Informing voters of permanent advance voting status.
• Providing voting materials in languages other than English.
• Establishing a vote-from-jail program.

To see the full report from the ACLU of Kansas on voter access, see the document below: