Long before President Clinton signed the National Voter Registration Act in 1993, Kansas was leading a charge to get citizens to the polls.
For decades, our secretaries of state campaigned for such reforms as advance voting, mailed ballots, more voting stations, greater access for registration, simpler rules and ID requirements. In the 1960s and 70s a campaign for easier access was led by Kansas Secretary of State Elwill Shanahan; more reforms came under secretaries Jack Brier (1980s), Bill Graves (80s-90s) and Ron Thornburgh (90s-2010).
All that has changed.