The Kansas Republican Party finally responded to questions about the email they sent out on Friday which gloated about their use of illegal voter suppression techniques. Unfortunately, we don't get to hear anything from the man who sent the email, KSGOP Chairman Kris Kobach. Instead we have to settle for this explanation from Executive Director Christian Morgan:

“It’s just a term of art,” Morgan said of caging voters.

'Term of art', now where have I heard that before? Somewhere... hmmm ... Oh yeah! It was here.

Caging, as Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) "helpfully pointed out, 'is a term of art in mailhouses' – it refers to the place where letters go when they have no address, all batched up in a separate room."

Little hint here KSGOP, when trying to cover-up your coordinated voter suppression as just another meaningless gaffe, try and avoid using language that might further implicate you. It's alright though, it's not like anyone is following this story.

Our friends over at BlueTideRising, bring us an interesting story. The KSGOP sent out an email yesterday with the following line.

To date, the Kansas GOP has identified and caged more voters in the last 11 months than the previous two years!

I'm sure that's got you asking, "What is a caged voter?"

The use of direct mail caging techniques to target voters resulted in the application of the name to the political tactic. With one type of caging, a political party sends registered mail to addresses of registered voters. If the mail is returned as undeliverable - because, for example, the voter refuses to sign for it, the voter isn't present for delivery, or the voter is homeless - the party uses that fact to challenge the registration, arguing that because the voter could not be reached at the address, the registration is fraudulent. A political party challenges the validity of a voter's registration; for the voter's ballot to be counted, the voter must prove that their registration is valid.

Voters targeted by caging are often the most vulnerable: soldiers deployed overseas, those who are unfamiliar with their rights under the law, and those who cannot spare the time, effort, and expense of proving that their registration is valid. On the day of the election, when the voter arrives at the poll and requests a ballot, an operative of the party challenges the validity of their registration. Ultimately, caging works by dissuading a voter from casting a ballot, or by ensuring that they cast a provisional ballot, which is less likely to be counted.

So the KSGOP is not only involved in coordinated, illegal voter suppression they are also bragging about it.