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DNC Voting Rights Commission Chair Jason Kander to Speak at SDDP Democratic Round-Up Banquet

SIOUX FALLS, SD – The South Dakota Democratic Party today announced that Jason Kander, former Missouri Secretary of State and chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Commission to Protect American Democracy will speak at its third annual Democratic Round-Up Banquet Dinner, set to begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 23 at the Ramkota Convention Center in Rapid City.

In this photo taken Oct. 14, 2016, Missouri Democratic Senate candidate, Secretary of State Jason Kander speaks at a rally in Kansas City, Mo. The clamor for change that’s fueling Donald Trump’s presidential campaign may help Kander, a little-known Democrat, upset powerful Republican Sen. roy Blunt in red-state Missouri on Election Day. And with just a few competitive Senate races around the country, the outcome in Missouri could help determine which party controls the Senate. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

“We are excited to welcome Jason Kander to South Dakota for the Democratic Round-Up. He is a strong advocate of the voting rights of every American citizen, and has an impressive history of electoral success as a Democrat in a ‘red’ state,” said SDDP Chair Ann Tornberg. “While Democrats are fighting to protect the voting rights of every eligible citizen, Republicans around the country – including here in South Dakota – continue to promote restrictions like voter ID laws or take actions putting early voting centers in tribal communities in locations which are hard for people to get to, which make it harder for people to exercise that right.

Gubernatorial candidate State Senator Billie Sutton, U.S. House candidate Tim Bjorkman, and former South Dakota Governor Harvey Wollman will also speak at the dinner.

Kander founded, and currently serves as president, of Let America Vote, an organization which fights back against proposals across the country that make it harder for eligible voters to exercise their constitutional right to cast a ballot, such as extreme identification requirements, questionable purges of voter rolls, voter intimidation, or new and extreme voter registration processes.

He was recently appointed by the Democratic National Committee to chair its Commission to Protect American Democracy from the Trump Administration to fight back against Republican efforts to make it harder to vote for eligible Americans across the country.

The first millennial elected to a statewide office in the country, Kander was elected to be Missouri’s 39th Secretary of State in 2012. Prior to his election as Secretary of State, Kander served as a State Representative from Kansas City. Before serving in elected office, Kander was a Captain in the U.S. Army and served as a military intelligence officer in Afghanistan.

Kander is a graduate of American University and Georgetown Law School. He lives in Kansas City with his wife, Diana, an entrepreneur, and their three-year-old son, True.

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