Last week, I introduced the Free State Elections Act (House Bill 2538, and Senate Bill 326) that would lift the burdensome birth certificate requirement, allow for voting day registration and end the Crosscheck program. The right of every person, no matter where in Kansas they live, to have equal access to the voting booth on election day is a right that should in no way be infringed.

Voter fraud, which the Kobach GOP claims is a rampant problem, is actually nothing of the sort. In the entirety of the 2022 elections, there were approximately 135 million votes cast, and only four confirmed cases of voter fraud. So why has the GOP, and in particular Kris Kobach, been lying to you? Because they seek to disenfranchise large blocks of voters – particularly African-Americans – in order to ensure fewer people can vote, which is how many Republicans win elections.

The aforementioned Crosscheck – which shares voter data between the 28 states that participate in the program – succumbed to a security breach last week, releasing the private information of thousands of voters (including my own). This predictable and horrendous breach of privacy must no longer be allowed. This system gets it wrong 99 percent of the time (literally) and too often removes lawfully registered voters from its rolls because it confuses two people with identical names and birthdates.

The Illinois State Legislature is on its way to revoking the state’s membership in Crosscheck. Kansas should do the same. Supporting fair and equal elections are truly the minimum requirement of our government entities. I am dedicated to forwarding these rights and to restore the trust in our election process through The Free State Elections Act.

As the first month of the new year draws to a close, it has been an excellent time to reflect on the previous year. What did we do wrong? What did we do right? What lessons did we learn that we can put toward 2022 and beyond? Indeed these are numerous. The reports made last year by the Kansas City Star in regards to the functions of the Kansas Government were troubling to say the least, and the past mistakes detailed in the reports are tragic; but the worst thing we can do about them is nothing.

I have been a proponent of increased transparency since I was elected last year. It’s incredibly important for Kansans to be well-informed, and for the state government to keep nothing hidden from its citizens. Which is why I’ve touted legislation that will prohibit anonymous votes. Trust is something that has been missing from Kansas politics for some time now, and it’s up to us, your elected officials, to restore that trust. Making it easy for our constituents to know how we voted on a bill is just one way we can do that.

The legislative session has been productive so far, and I’m excited by the possibilities of what we might be able to accomplish this year for the state of Kansas. The welfare of children, fair pay for teachers and equal protection under the law for all Kansas residents are just some of the things worth fighting for.