To the editor:

If enacted, Kansas Senate Bill 31 will compel public disclosure of the identities of people and groups who fund political “issue ads” that anonymously abuse or assist political candidates and ballot measures, and typically air just before voting day.

In voicing their objections to this bill (as reported in the Journal-World) the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Americans for Prosperity-Kansas and the National Rifle Assn. make themselves sound like three gangs of poachers who’ve joined forces to repeal the state’s hunting and fishing regulations governing fair chase.

Registered candidates standing for elected office demonstrate courage and a respect for democracy by voicing their personal views publicly, allowing voters to link candidates with issues. New office seekers and incumbents up for re-election all must make public a list of the citizens who donated to their campaign, said list to reveal the amount of money each supporter gave.

In contrast, individuals donating $1,000 or more to help air a political “issue ad” have enjoyed a cloak of anonymity that encourages ambushing and pot-shooting their quarry after legal hunting hours, so to speak. As the rounds they fire sizzle across the landscape, we ask who’s doing the shooting. Getting told, “It’s none of your business” violates how we want representative politics to work.

Letting cryptic interest groups influence elections by running non-attributable “issue ads” subverts the democratic process. If Kansas doesn’t dismantle the secrecy that enables this subversion, these political poachers and snipers will only steady their aim and strike anew with impunity.

Joe Hyde,

Eudora