Kansas AG Kobach Crackdown On Gift Cards For Voting

An important sign of the times and push back against payoffs . . . Here's the presser: 

Kobach Orders Bluestem Kansas to Cease and Desist Offering Gift Cards to Voters for Voting

AG demands the group preserve all records of its canvassing operations, asks voters who were offered incentives to come forward

TOPEKA – (October 31, 2026) – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach today sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bluestem Kansas. The letter demands that the group immediately stop offering voters incentives tied to voting in the November 3 general election. Offering anything of value in exchange for voting violates both Kansas and federal law.

The action follows the receipt of evidence on October 31 from a Kansas voter who was offered a $5 gift card. The canvasser who offered the monetary incentive to the voter identified himself as working with Bluestem Kansas.

Under K.S.A. 25-2409, election bribery includes giving, offering or agreeing to give a benefit in exchange for voting at a public election. It is a severity level 7, nonperson felony. Federal law, 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c), separately makes it a crime to pay or offer to pay anyone for voting in an election that includes federal candidates.

The letter also directs Bluestem Kansas to preserve all documents, communications and records related to its canvassing efforts and to any offer of gift cards or other incentives to voters. This includes emails, text messages, scripts, training materials, payment records and communications with vendors and canvassers.

“As attorney general and before that as secretary of state, I have prosecuted many cases of voter fraud in Kansas, including voting by non-citizens and double voting. But I never thought that a group in Kansas would be so brazen as to go door-to-door three days before a general election offering voters monetary incentives. This sounds like Chicago in the 1950s, not Kansas in the 2020s. As long as I am attorney general, those who violate our election laws will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Kobach said.

Public’s assistance requested

As part of its investigation, the Attorney General’s Office is asking for the public’s help. Any Kansan who was offered a gift card, cash or any other incentive by Bluestem Kansas or its canvassers is asked to contact the office at 785-296-2215. Helpful details include the date and location of the contact, what was offered, what the canvasser asked the voter to do, any photos or videos of the exchange, and written materials that the canvasser left behind.
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