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(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Sept. 23, 2013)

Martin HawverWe saw an interesting little shift of an issue last week, when Gov. Sam Brownback’s Department of Revenue—the folks in charge of issuing drivers’ licenses—started moving toward letting Kansans know that it is the driver’s license store…with not much to do with voter registration.

The issue, of course, is that 17,000-and-growing number of Kansans who get their initial licenses or renew their licenses and are routinely asked whether they want to register to vote. That’s a federal law—asking those DL customers whether they want to register to vote, part of the Motor Voter Act.