Appeals court reverses ruling on Kansas lawsuit challenging restraint of voting rights

“Today’s landmark ruling creates a foundation for protecting democracy in Kansas for generations to come,” said Davis Hammet, of Loud Light. “Voting isn’t a privilege. It’s a fundamental right.”

By

State News

March 20, 2023 - 4:42 PM

Attorney General Kris Kobach denounced the election-law opinion issued by the Kansas Court of Appeals as “illogical” and the nation’s most radical decision in an election rights case. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — A three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals issued an opinion Friday declaring voting a foundational constitutional right potentially undermined by state law mandating election volunteers verify signatures on advance ballots and restricting the number of advance ballots a person could deliver to an election office.

The appellate panel of Judges Sarah Warner, Henry Green and Stephen Hill, appointees of three different Kansas Democratic governors, reversed the decision of a Shawnee County District Court judge to dismiss the voting-access lawsuit filed by Loud Light, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center against Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Attorney General Kris Kobach.

The opinion remanding the case back to district court, but not overturning the state voting laws in question, referenced a legal precedent set by the Kansas Supreme Court in 2019 declaring abortion rights were embedded in the Kansas Constitution.

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