Kansas attorney general orders League of Women Voters to stop paying teens to register to vote

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a cease-and-desist letter Friday to the League of Women Voters to stop violations of state and federal law by offering financial incentives to high school students who registered to vote.

The issue surfaced after state Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican, complained about voter registration campaigns during May at Lansing and Leavenworth high schools. The Leavenworth County chapter of the League of Women Voters had promoted distribution of $5 Starbucks gift cards to students who registered.

In a statement, Kobach said he referred the matter to the U.S. attorney in Kansas for investigation.

In elections with a federal candidate on the ballot, U.S. law prohibits an individual, nonprofit or labor union from paying or offering to pay a person to register to vote or to cast a ballot. Federal law doesn’t ban free rides to the polls or providing employees paid leave to vote.

“Paying people to register or to vote is illegal, period,” Kobach said. “The size of the gift card does not matter.”

The penalty under federal law featured a maximum fine of $10,000 and a prison sentence up to five years.

The attorney general said the prohibition in both Kansas and U.S. law was designed to “protect the integrity of our elections and public confidence in the results.”

The attorney general’s office reserved the right to take enforcement action in the future against the League of Women Voters, he said.

“Groups may encourage registration and help eligible Kansans complete the process. They may not buy registrations,” Kobach said.

The attorney general’s cease-and-desist letter sent  to the League of Women Voters of Leavenworth County and the League of Women Voters of Kansas called for a halt to offering cash, gift cards or anything else of value to register people to vote.

The document directed the county chapter to preserve financial records and registration forms related to its incentive program involving high school students. In addition, Kobach asked the chapter to respond within 30 days with information identifying every instance in which the organization distributed cash or gift cards in exchange for a person voting or registering to vote.

The League of Women Voters of Leavenworth County brought attention to their unusual effort to register young voters by posting photographs on Facebook. One post included a sign that said, “Register to vote get a $5 Starbucks gift card.”

Proctor, the House Elections Committee chairman, is a candidate for secretary of state. He’s running against Democrat Jennifer Day in the Nov. 3 election. Secretary of State Scott Schwab chose not to seek reelection.

Proctor encouraged Kobach to launch an inquiry but asked the attorney general not to investigate students who may have accepted illegal payments to register or to vote.