Ahead of key Kansas election, city’s decision blocks residents from registering to vote
Editor’s note: Following publication of this story, Atchison County has now decided to allow city residents to register through July 12 like the rest of the state, according to an email sent from the Kansas secretary of state’s office to the ACLU. Read more here.
Atchison County is refusing to allow residents of the City of Atchison to register to vote ahead of a major Kansas election in August that will decide the future of abortion rights in the state.
The halt on registrations is drawing scrutiny from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kansas, which says the situation violates federal voting rights law. The organization is demanding officials allow residents to register amid a local outcry and hasn’t ruled out a lawsuit.
Atchison County, which contains the City of Atchison, stopped registering voters who live in the city in late June even though the statewide deadline to register is July 12.
The city of roughly 10,800 northwest of Kansas City is set to hold a special election on a sales tax on July 14. State law requires registrations to end 21 days before an election, prompting a halt to registrations for city residents on June 23.
Normally, registrations would resume the day after the election. But because July 15 is already within the 21-day window for the August 2 election, Atchison residents have now missed their opportunity to register.
“Atchison citizens who were not registered to vote by June 23 no longer have the ability to weigh in on these important matters even though every other Kansan has the opportunity until July 12 to do so,” said Atchison resident Meredith Doyle.
Doyle unsuccessfully attempted to register to vote on June 28. She is now sounding the alarm and has been urging the Atchison city commission to cancel or postpone the local election to allow registration to reopen.
Atchison could prove a source of support for a proposed amendment, called Value Them Both by supporters, that would remove the right to an abortion from the Kansas Constitution. The city is home to Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts college.
About 11,000 people were registered to vote in Atchison County as of April, according to the Kansas Secretary of State’ Office. Those registered by June 23 will be allowed to vote in August, but the early deadline foreclosed the possibility of any last-minute registration drives in the city. Voters who live in Atchison County but reside outside of the city can still register to vote until July 12.
Whitney Tempel, a spokeswoman for Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, said his office doesn’t have authority over local elections. “We will continue working with the Atchison County Clerk to ensure the rights of each voter are protected and every legal voter has the opportunity to cast their ballot in the August primary election,” Tempel said in an email.
City leaders have given no indication they plan to postpone the election, which would authorize a 1-cent sales tax for infrastructure. Atchison’s five city commissioners, who are elected, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from The Star on Thursday.
Less than an hour after a reporter contacted the commissioners, city manager Amy Finch provided a statement defending the decision to hold the election. Finch noted the city has received complaints for years about the disrepair of its streets and that the date of the election was set in consultation with the county clerk, who administers elections.
Finch said the city has no control over the state law that places time limits on voter registration.
“There is a group trying to make this a city issue when the city has no authority to govern voter registration,” Finch said.
“It would not be fair to disregard the rights of voters who have already cast ballots in this special election through advance and absentee ballots, in an attempt to remedy an issue that is outside our authority. No further statements will be forthcoming regarding this issue.”
ACLU of Kansas legal director Sharon Brett said a number of residents have raised concerns. Brett said she emailed County Clerk Michelle Phillips on Wednesday and didn’t receive a response. Phillips didn’t return a message The Star left with the county clerk’s office on Thursday.
In an email to Atchison city attorney Robert Campbell on Thursday afternoon, Brett wrote that the early end of voter registration violates the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) because the August election includes primaries for federal offices, such as U.S. representative and senator. Brett provided The Star with a copy of the email.
The federal law requires voter registration to either be open until 30 days before an election or a time set by state law, whichever is shorter.
“As I am sure you are aware, there is a congressional primary on the ballot for August 2nd, thus triggering these provisions from the NVRA. Closing registration prior to the state registration deadline of July 12 therefore violates federal law,” Brett wrote.
Brett said in an interview the moved-up registration deadline wasn’t properly communicated to city residents. A news release posted on the city website in May announcing the sales tax election doesn’t note the change.
Assistant city manager Joe Warren addressed the apparent lack of notice in a statement posted to the city website on Wednesday.
“We do feel bad that some people may not have been aware of the alternate timeline set due to the existence of a special ballot question being a few weeks from the Primary date,” Warren said in the statement.
Asked about the possibility of a lawsuit, Brett didn’t take it off the table.
“We are talking to individuals who have been affected and are considering all options,” Brett said.
This story was originally published July 8, 2022 at 8:32 AM.
