The nonpartisan, rapid response Election Protection project will be on its sixth year in the state
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 1, 2024
CONTACT: Esmie Tseng, Communications Director, ACLU of Kansas, [email protected]
OVERLAND PARK, KAN. – In the 2024 primary and general elections, the ACLU of Kansas will once again lead the Election Protection hotline, a nonpartisan, state-wide, rapid response effort by lawyers and on-site poll monitors that will safeguard the voting process this primary and general election for Kansas voters.
Kansas voters with any issue or question will be able to call the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline or its other language alternatives to speak directly with a trained attorney. In partnership with the Kansas City law firm Stinson Leonard Street, LLC and 866-OUR-VOTE, the ACLU of Kansas legal team will be prepared to respond in real time, cooperating with local election officials where needed. The effort is also recruiting and training volunteers to provide on-site assistance to voters at polling places in certain areas.
“Most of the issues we anticipate could be as simple as someone at the wrong polling location because they moved and didn’t update their information,” said Kunyu Ching, Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Kansas who is leading the project. “Historically, we’ve resolved the vast majority of calls quickly. In those cases, voters benefitted from just talking to one of our trained hotline attorneys about the next step they could take to make sure their votes counted.”
In situations that may require escalation, such as additional legal research or direct contact with county election officials, the ACLU of Kansas legal team will be prepared to respond.
“We’re hopeful that we can continue our partnership with election officials, which has been so helpful to Kansas voters,” said Ching. “We’re also prepared to address and escalate more serious issues, such as an election worker with a misunderstanding about the law, or voter intimidation by a third party trying to prevent someone from voting.”
“Voting is one of the most important things we do as citizens to participate in democracy, which is at its core the idea that every person counts and has a say in the governance of our state or nation,” said Micah Kubic, Executive Director at the ACLU of Kansas. “Amidst heightened attacks from the legislature on our right to vote as well as a barrage of politicized rhetoric aimed at undermining faith in our election, the ACLU of Kansas remains determined to ensure that every vote counts and that voters have the assistance they need – because citizens actually participating makes our democracy stronger.”
In 2022, nearly 150 volunteers in 20 counties provided over 500 hours of assistance at 85 different polling locations. In August 2022, Kansas voters and hotline volunteers reported that a number of voters at the rec center in Maize, Kansas, just northwest of Wichita, were turned away prior to the poll closing and told to vote at a different location. The ACLU of Kansas immediately contacted the Sedgwick County Election office. In a statement admitting the mistake, the Sedgwick County Election office said that election workers did not have the authority to make that decision, and that the affected voters would be allowed to vote provisionally at another location. The ACLU of Kansas also released a statement and social media posts, and local media was invaluable in elevating the Maize situation to its audience.
The Maize example demonstrates how, through the non-partisan Election Protection hotline, the ACLU of Kansas team and its field volunteers are able to escalate and resolve a serious voter access issue through various advocacy steps, without resorting to litigation.
Election Protection Hotlines
- ENGLISH 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)
- SPANISH/ENGLISH 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682)
- ASIAN LANGUAGES/ENGLISH 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683)
- ARABIC/ENGLISH 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287)
Calls to the Election Protection hotline are logged in a database, tracked for trends, and flagged for follow-up when necessary. All voters are encouraged to call the hotline to report any issues or questions, even ones that are resolved at the time without intervention but nevertheless could indicate a trend or issue potentially affecting others. Any organization may include the hotline phone number(s) on its materials.
Hotline calls will be answered live on primary election day (Aug. 6, 2024) and on the general election day (Nov. 6, 2024), as well as during the weeks leading up to both elections during business hours. After-hours calls are directed to voicemail and promptly returned. The ACLU of Kansas, Stinson, and 866-OUR-VOTE will integrate collected data from the four hotlines to track systemic issues and to address those issues in real time. In past years, information from the hotlines has reinforced the importance of the voting process at the local and state levels.
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About the ACLU of Kansas: The ACLU of Kansas is the statewide affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to preserving and advancing the civil rights and legal freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For more information, visit our website at www.aclukansas.org.
