KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The League of Women Voters of Kansas is among four groups that filed a lawsuit Tuesday, arguing that recently enacted Kansas voting laws violate the state constitution.
Loud Light, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center join the league in the suit that claims House Bill 2183 and House Bill 2332 are “interfering with Kansans’ voting, due process and free speech and association rights,” according to a news release.
“Kansas saw incredible turnout numbers in the 2020 election, in large part due to the work of trusted nonpartisan organizations like the league to provide voters with accurate, timely election information,” Jacqueline Lightcap, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Kansas, said in the release. “HB 2183 and HB 2332 threaten to undermine this progress by criminalizing the vital efforts of civic organizations.”
Lightcap also said the “anti-voter bills” will disproportionately affect voters who have disabilities, people of color, students, the elderly and those for whom English is not their first language.
The lawsuit, filed in the District Court of Shawnee County, focuses on four issues – voter-education restriction, advocacy ban, signature-rejection requirement and delivery-assistance ban – and alleges that the bills are intended to make it “harder for lawful Kansas voters to participate in the state’s elections.”
The bills were passed despite Gov. Laura Kelly having vetoed the measures.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
