Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed three bills this week that his fellow Republicans had pushed as necessary to safeguard the integrity of elections – an issue Republicans in Kansas have promoted as well. Snyder vetoed bills that would have required photo ID to obtain an absentee ballot, required a ballot box affirmation of citizenship, and mandated training for groups doing voter-registration drives – something he said could “cause confusion.” Like Kansas, Michigan already requires those voting at the polls to show photo ID. Jennie Bowser of the National Conference of State Legislatures told the New York Times that “voter ID falls on very stark partisan lines, and there are very few exceptions to that. It’s unusual and notable when somebody crosses it.”
The Aug. 7 GOP primary contests for Sedgwick County district attorney and sheriff are extremely close, judging from a new SurveyUSA poll sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12. Of the 403 likely Republican primary voters polled, 37 percent favored Marc Bennett to replace retiring District Attorney Nola Foulston, compared with 36 percent for Kevin O’Connor. In the sheriff’s race, incumbent Robert Hinshaw (in photo) drew 43 percent, compared with challenger Jeff Easter’s 42 percent.
Wichita, for all its racial struggles, can take pride not only in having elected the first African-American to the Kansas Senate in 1964 but in continuing to send African-Americans to the chamber. The passing last week of that first pioneer, Curtis McClinton Sr., at age 99, highlighted the grocer’s service to his community and state, first as a member of the Kansas House and then, after spending $34 on his campaign, during four years in the Senate. State Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, went to the Senate floor in 2008 to hail what had started with McClinton, noting that “since 1964, with the exception of two years fulfilling an unexpired term, a senator of color has represented part of Sedgwick County.” McClinton once said of his time in the Legislature: “While Martin Luther King was marching in the South, we already secured civil rights legislation here.” In 2008, Sedgwick County also elected the first African-American woman to the Senate, Oletha Faust-Goudeau; she is up for re-election this year.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed three bills this week that his fellow Republicans had pushed as necessary to safeguard the integrity of elections – an issue Republicans in Kansas have promoted as well. Snyder vetoed bills that would have required photo ID to obtain an absentee ballot, required a ballot box affirmation of citizenship, and mandated training for groups doing voter-registration drives – something he said could “cause confusion.” Like Kansas, Michigan already requires those voting at the polls to show photo ID. Jennie Bowser of the National Conference of State Legislatures told the New York Times that “voter ID falls on very stark partisan lines, and there are very few exceptions to that. It’s unusual and notable when somebody crosses it.”
