Here are a few of the questions fielded by the ACLU Election Hotline with answers provided by Lauren Bonds, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas
Do you have to agree to have your voter ID scanned in order to vote? This was an issue with a voter being concerned about his privacy being invaded. He just wanted to show his id and not have it scanned. There is no reason having your id scanned should be a pre-condition of being able to vote. This was a poll worker error. The poll worker could have entered the voter’s ID information manually.
Is it proper for poll workers to require him to turn his shirt inside out before allowing him to vote? This person was wearing a campaign t-shirt for a candidate whose name was on the ballot. There have been laws not allowing campaigning within so many feet of a polling location, but a Supreme Court decision in Minnesota shot down a law prohibiting wearing shirts with political messages on them in the poll. How far reaching the ruling is has still not been tested.
The problem with this situation was that other people were reportedly at the poll wearing campaign paraphernalia and they weren’t instructed to remove their paraphernalia.
A retired corrections employee wanted to use an identification card issued years ago by the penal institution as his ID card. This was another poll worker error. By Kansas law, the only requirement for a identification is that it must have the persons photo on it, first name, last, name and its government issued. This was a government issued ID that met the qualifications.
A voter complained about a lack of parking at a polling place. This complaint was actually about a disabled person not finding enough curbside parking. While there isn’t a law requiring a certain number of parking spaces at a polling location, it is a general problem that keeps people from voting the same way a restrictive law does. Election officers need to be more cognizant of the available resources at their selected sites, including having ample parking.
A poll worker asked a voter to put away a brochure she was using to make her voting selections. That is permissible. You can bring in a sample ballot or a cheat sheet, there is no Kansas law restricting that.
Another voter said a poll worker slammed the door in her face about two minutes before polls closed at 7 p.m. AS long as you’re in line at 7 p.m., you’re allowed to vote. This was a case of a poll workers being too anxious to end their day. The hotline staff contacted the County Clerk in that town who allowed the person to come to the clerk’s office and vote.
