Clerk adds more polling sites in Dodge City, and the ACLU seeks to dismiss lawsuit

The American Civil Liberties Union wants to dismiss a lawsuit it filed over the decision to move Dodge City’s single Election Day polling site out of town after officials there promised to add polling sites for future elections.

Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox, the official in charge of elections in Dodge City, said this week she will open two voting sites in the city for the 2019 primary and general elections. And she promised to ensure temporary bus stops in front of the sites.

Cox was at the center of national scrutiny in the lead-up to the November election after she moved the city’s lone Election Day polling site to an expo center outside the city limits, citing construction. Cox at one point had commented on a message from the ACLU by writing “LOL” in an email.

The ACLU sued Cox on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens and Alejandro Rangel-Lopez, an 18-year-old high school student who voted for the first time in November. A federal judge declined to order Cox to open a second polling site before the election, but raised concerns over her “LOL” comment.

The ACLU filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Friday. In the motion, the ACLU attorneys write that “upon review of (Cox’s) announcement and given the changed factual circumstances” the plaintiffs have decided they want to voluntarily dismiss their complaint.

The two Dodge City polling locations will be:

• The Hoover Pavilion, 108 Fourth Avenue
  
  
• The Knights of Columbus Hall, 800 West Frontview Street
  
  

This story was originally published January 25, 2019 at 9:54 AM.