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“We have definitely stepped up our election protection work and have the largest, most robust program we’ve ever had — covering more polling places with more volunteers and prepared for more scenarios,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas. “We are still recruiting, so I wouldn’t want to commit to numbers yet — but in August, we doubled the size of the program over prior years and anticipate doing the same for November.”

So, what’s the distinction? And why are groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and the League of Women Voters advocating for Kansans to vote “no” in the Nov. 3 general election?

A new Kansas law revokes driver’s licenses for some trans people and requires them to use bathrooms that match their sex at birth. A group of trans men called the Kansas ‘Compliance Crew’ is protesting the law by following it. NBC News’ Marquise Francis has more.

Opponents of the amendment include the Kansas chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of Women Voters, both of which submitted written testimony in opposition to the amendment during the 2025 legislative session. Davis Hammet, president of Loud Light Civic Action, a voting rights advocacy group in Kansas, also opposed the measure.

Micah Kubic, executive director of ACLU of Kansas, said the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas was asking residents of southwest Kansas to ignore what they observed occurring in their communities. “Kansans are seeing through these transparent attempts to turn neighbors against one another,” Kubic said. “Even if the U.S. attorney finds them inconvenient, the facts are clear: masked, unidentified men are recklessly storming our streets, surrounding cars, separating parents from children, then disappearing them into ICE’s creeping network of deplorable jails and prisons.”

The ACLU of Kansas said it wants to have more conversations with the department about ALPRs, including reducing the data retention periods even further and limiting data sharing.

“The Overland Park Police Department has engaged in an open, transparent dialogue about its policy on the use of ALPRs. Chief Jokerst and the department have sought the views of a wide range of individuals and organizations, including those like ours, who have divergent perspectives. The OPPD’s willingness to meaningfully engage and take steps to address our concerns is commendable. The ACLU of Kansas will continue to advocate for ending the use of ALPRs entirely, but the updated OPPD policy is a significant step forward in limiting ALPR use, scope and data retention in ways that seek to protect individual rights. We are committed to continuing the respectful, constructive dialogue which Chief Jokerst and OPPD initiated about ALPRs, including by calling for reduced data retention periods and limits on data sharing,” the ACLU said.

The case, Doe v. State of Kansas, challenges the legality of SB 244, with those most significantly affected by the law at the center. (Disclosure: Ballard Spahr LLP provides legal support to Prism.) “Hopefully at the end of the day, we can get relief for transgender and intersex people throughout Kansas,” said Harper Seldin, a staff attorney in the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project who is working on the case. “There really is no limit to what legislatures are willing to do to try to push transgender people out of public life.” The state district court is currently hearing arguments for Doe v. Kansas. Seldin hopes that the case progresses swiftly, underlining how trans Kansans can’t live under these legal limitations. “Our plaintiffs are just ordinary folks who are trying to live their lives in their communities where they’ve been embedded for many years,” Seldin said. “Laws like this basically say, ‘You don’t belong here. You’re not the kind of person who’s fit to be in society with other people. And we’re going to demonstrate that via your driver’s license, making you hang a sign around your neck that makes you declare your trans and intersex status.’”

“The OPPD’s willingness to meaningfully engage and take steps to address our concerns is commendable,” Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas, said in a statement. Kubic said Overland Park police Chief Doreen Jokerst, who took over the department two years ago, sought his input. The civil rights nonprofit opposes widespread use of automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, and has launched a campaign against Flock Safety, one of the primary companies in the industry. “The ACLU of Kansas will continue to advocate for ending the use of ALPRs entirely, but the updated OPPD policy is a significant step forward in limiting ALPR use,” Kubic said.