Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt reinforced Monday that his office would, in fact, prosecute a law that caused activist groups to cease voter registration drives for fear of felony charges — including in Douglas County, where District Attorney Suzanne Valdez said her office would not enforce the law.

The new state law, HB 2183, makes it illegal for individuals to engage in conduct that would cause someone to believe they are an election official. Valdez said last week that the law is vague and subjective, and that it is already illegal to impersonate an election official — now, “Normal, everyday, traditional political activities have been declared unlawful and can potentially carry a prison sentence.”

But a statement from Schmidt’s office Monday morning said that he “assured Kansans that election crimes will still be prosecuted.” Schmidt said Valdez might not prosecute the “election-integrity laws,” but “state law also authorizes prosecution by the attorney general.

“The law of the State of Kansas is in effect statewide, including in Douglas County, so any law enforcement agencies that obtain evidence of election crimes may present the results of an investigation to our office for review, and we will make a prosecution decision based on the facts and law applicable to any individual case,” Schmidt’s statement said.

Valdez responded Monday afternoon, calling Schmidt’s announcement “a disturbing example of overreach, attempted intimidation and partisan bluster” and saying it undermined her local authority.

“The attorney general’s statement is a threat to those who educate the electorate and assist some of our most vulnerable citizens in exercising their right to vote,” Valdez said. “In his efforts to pander to a certain segment, Attorney General Schmidt continues to perpetuate a lie that he fostered in his failed efforts to subvert democracy in the 2020 presidential election. But in Douglas County, we follow the Constitution.”

Nonprofit voter education groups such as the League of Women Voters of Kansas and Loud Light have ceased voter registration efforts and filed a lawsuit to challenge the law’s constitutionality. Leaders of those organizations told the Kansas Reflector last week after Valdez’s statement that they still would not resume their efforts.

Davis Hammet, president of Loud Light, told the Reflector that the stakes are too high. Under the law, false representation of an election official is a felony crime with a punishment of up to 17 months in prison and a $100,000 fine.

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