Sometimes in the course of understanding Illinois, it helps to look beyond its borders to ponder issues in other states.

Today we start by looking a few hundred miles west to Kansas, where Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab – also a 2026 gubernatorial candidate – finds himself at odds with the U.S. Department of Justice in a manner that should be familiar to observers of the Illinois State Board of Elections.

As Stateline’s Jonathan Sherman reported Monday (tinyurl.com/DOJrequests), the feds have asked at least 27 states to submit voter data. ISBE waived the $500 fee it would typically charge to provide the datasets it already sells to political committees and government bodies, but will not hand over birthdates, Social Security numbers or other state identifiers

Schwab also declined to fully comply with the DOJ request, supplying only the publicly available information. It’s a stance similar to GOP election officials in Alaska, Florida and Utah, but Schwab perhaps draws outsized attention because, per The Associated Press, he built his “public profile by pushing back against unfounded election conspiracy theories and breaking with fellow Republicans on voting rights issues.”

Sherman further reported, “New Hampshire’s Republican secretary of state has turned over no data, citing restrictions in state law, and Texas officials have said they can’t currently provide a copy of their voter rolls because of ongoing technical upgrades.”

Reporting like this helpfully broadens the issue’s scope beyond Springfield in a manner that dampens the perception of the debate as purely partisan. Consider a quote from the August letter Schwab sent to the DOJ, along with the public data:

“Kansas recently completed statewide voter list de-duplication, and county election officials are in the process of removing verified duplicate voters from the registration list. To ensure DOJ receives a voter registration list that reflects this de-duplication and removal of out-of-state deceased, the agency will provide DOJ with an updated list once these efforts are complete.”

Those sentences are devoid of political sentiment and underscore the reality of a long-established structure: states run their elections. That’s the status quo, not only because of the Constitution, but also a proven track record of the feasibility of letting things like voter registration and driver services fall under a smaller umbrella than what the federal government might endeavor to operate.

That said, it’s likewise important to know that Republican election officials in South Carolina and Indiana enthusiastically complied. In the Palmetto State, the government is asking its top court to release all the data over the objection of a citizen who sued to protect privacy.

As always is the bottom line on this matter – and gerrymandering, absentee ballots and more – debates will persist unless and until Congress enacts new federal rules.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.