TOPEKA — A U.S. District Court judge issued a ruling Thursday declaring another portion of a 2021 Kansas law passed by the Legislature over the veto of Gov. Laura Kelly to be an infringement of First Amendment rights of speech and association in the U.S. Constitution.
The statute designed to block distribution of advance mail ballot applications to potential Kansas voters was inspired by Republicans who acted on false claims sophisticated crooks stole reelection from President Donald Trump in 2020. The Democratic governor vetoed the bill, but was overridden by the GOP-led House and Senate two years ago.
Implementation of the state law was stalled in wake of the federal lawsuit and the subsequent injunction authorized by Judge Kathryn Vratil. Last year, Vratil struck down portions of House Bill 2332 forbidding out-of-state groups from being involved in distribution of mail ballot applications to potential voters. The state’s attorneys had agreed this section of the law violated First and 14th Amendments of the federal constitution.
The Voter Participation Center and VoteAmerica, which conducted an unprecedented mail-in voter drive in Kansas during the 2020 election cycle, continued with a challenge to other elements of the law. The defendants were Republicans Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Johnson District Attorney Stephen Howe and Attorneys General Derek Schmidt and, later, Kris Kobach.
With representation from the Campaign Legal Center and other attorneys, the...
When a company promises to save the planet by 2050, it sounds reassuring. But what if that promise comes with no real plan, no credible evidence, and no accountability? A sweeping new study reveal...