• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. voting rights>

Kansas GOP splits over new law making it easier to vote

Our Staff
February 14, 2020
Voters cast ballots in Kansas

Voting in 2018 in Peoria, an hour southwest of Kansas City. A new law is supposed to give Kansans more flexibility to choose where to cast ballots in their county.

Whitney Curtis/Getty Images

Efforts to expand access to the ballot box in Kansas in time for the presidential election face further delays because of an intensifying dispute among the Republicans in charge in Topeka.

Ten months ago the Legislature enacted a law giving voters a broader choice of polling places. But Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who took office last year, has delayed instituting the change because he says it raises security concerns — and that at least a year more is needed to ensure electronic voter lists and computer systems are ready.

Even some of his fellow Republicans at the statehouse say Schwab is creating flimsy excuses masking his disinterest in making it more convenient to vote in a year when Kansas' traditionally deep red hue is going to be tested, especially in an open-seat Senate contest.

The tussle also revives the image of Kansas as a voting rights minefield that was set when conservative Republican Kris Kobach was secretary of state and pushed for some of the country's strictest voter ID laws, including a proof-of-citizenship requirement for new voters now on hold in the courts. Koback is now running for the Senate.


Kansas' law would allow voters to cast ballots at any of the dozens of voting centers set up by their home counties rather than at their precinct-specific polling locations. Proponents say this gives voters more flexibility and will boost turnout. Currently, 16 states have laws that permit counties to run voting centers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

While it will take time to implement this new system, Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike agree that at the very least Sedgwick County, which includes the state's largest city, Wichita, can handle the change. Sedgwick already has multiple voting sites linked and the voting equipment, in place since 2017, allows for polling place flexibility.

At the end of January, a bipartisan group of 26 legislators introduced a bill that would allow Sedgwick County voters to use any polling place for the 2020 primary and general elections. However, last week, two scheduled hearings for this bill were canceled.

From Your Site Articles
  • Partisan tussle interrupts House probe of midterm voter suppression ... ›
  • What's needed to prevent Wisconsin from replicating - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Dodge City polling place move ignites voter access fears | The ... ›
  • Kansas' new elections chief sparks voting-rights dispute ›
  • Kansas' New Elections Chief Sparks Own Voting-Rights Dispute ... ›
voting rights

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

The American experiment

Kevin Frazier
22h

The Fahey Q&A with Jasmine Hull of Deliberations.US

Katie Fahey
Courtney Fiedler
22h

Podcast: What does the House Speaker election say about the Republican Party?

Our Staff
22h

A few lawmakers make election legislation a priority in 2023

David Meyers
23 January

Part III: The failed constitutional convention campaign finance marketplace

J.H. Snider
23 January

House Speaker McCarthy’s powers are still strong – but he’ll be fighting against new rules that could prevent anything from getting done

Stanley M. Brand
20 January
Videos

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Our Staff

Video: Veterans for Political Innovation - Who we are

Our Staff

Video: Want to fight polarization? Take a vacation!

Our Staff

Video: Kevin McCarthy is Speaker, but he's got a tough job ahead

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirst Friday End of Year

Our Staff

Video: Minnesota Gov. Walz asks fellow Democrats to ‘Think Big’ when it comes to fixing voting issues

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: What does the House Speaker election say about the Republican Party?

Our Staff
22h

Video: Chaos or calm: Building confidence in Pennsylvania elections

Our Staff
19 January

Podcast: Pushing back against polarization

Our Staff
18 January

Podcast: Nationalism, race, and American party politics

Our Staff
17 January
Recommended
image of Statue of Liberty and American flag.

The American experiment

Civic Ed
Jasmine Hull is Chief Operating Officer for Deliberations.US.

The Fahey Q&A with Jasmine Hull of Deliberations.US

Civic Ed
Podcast: What does the House Speaker election say about the Republican Party?

Podcast: What does the House Speaker election say about the Republican Party?

Podcasts
A few lawmakers make election legislation a priority in 2023

A few lawmakers make election legislation a priority in 2023

Elections
Part III: The failed constitutional convention campaign finance marketplace

Part III: The failed constitutional convention campaign finance marketplace

State
Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Elections