We find it troubling that Ms. Dreiling seems to be misrepresenting how long Hays residents have been asking for a polling location on the Fort Hays State University campus.
This request predates even Ms. Dreiling herself as county clerk. In fact, various cycles of FHSU students involved in the American Democracy Project have been calling for an accessible polling location on campus for Hays residents for over 30 years now, and Ms. Dreiling has been hearing these requests since she took office in 2020.
It’s increasingly frustrating to see Ms. Dreiling position herself as a victim, most recently by her recent letter misdirecting how she has ignored the needs of the voters she serves for as long as she has been in office. Maybe she misunderstands this organizing model: this community was approached and asked us what our biggest need was and offered tools to get attention on the issue we otherwise wouldn't have.
That support has included texts encouraging Ms. Dreiling’s constituents who support a campus polling location to make their voices heard. Because in contrast, by ignoring requests from voters and even closing the poll closest to FHSU last year, Ms. Dreiling is clearly more interested in arguing with us in the local paper and ensuring our voices are not heard.
A couple of things Ms. Dreiling points out: 1) there are many considerations for accessibility with any new polling location and 2) turnout at the polling location she shut down was low.
Yes, we agree. But here, she either forgets or intentionally fails to include that 1) she received numerous proposals for FHSU locations that would meet those location considerations, proposals that included far more detail than the more distant location she ultimately decided on and 2) research shows that in Kansas, having more polling locations in a county has the highest correlation with voter turnout. Fewer voters per poll means a poll is less crowded, has shorter lines, and that voters have less average distance to travel.
There is something disturbing about a public official responding to low voter turnout in a certain precinct by shutting down access even more and to constituent requests with divisive smoke and mirrors. As a county clerk, Ms. Dreiling has enormous power and numerous tools at her disposal to increase voter turnout, and none of these are closing a poll.
By trying to center the conversation on her victimhood, Ms. Dreiling aims to erase the recent history of how she has (failed to) engage or meet the needs of her own constituents and tries to shirk the responsibility of her office. Had she chosen the route of increased access, she would have never gotten those texts she is so bothered about.
— Madison Albers, Edward Brown, Anniston Weber,
Hays residents