The Kansas Legislature has voted to override the veto of Democrat Governor Laura Kelly on some election-related reform bills — which reports said were meant to plug the issues raised during the 2020 election.
Kelly vetoed the said bills last month claiming that the legislation was “designed to disenfranchise Kansans,” according to a report by local media Kansas City Star.
“Changes to Kansas election laws that limit the power of the executive and judicial branch and tighten rules around advance voting are now law despite Gov. Laura Kelly’s objections,” the publication wrote, adding that the state legislature voted Monday to override Kelly’s vetoes on two elections related measures.
“The bills follow a trend in GOP-controlled state houses nationwide to limit ballot access,” it added, after claims of widespread voter fraud emerged during the 2020 election, while it said that “legislation in Washington to expand mail-in voting nationwide has stalled in the Senate.”
Over two-thirds of the lawmakers backed the move — exceeding the threshold needed to pass bills without the governor’s approval.
“Inspired by controversies from the 2020 election, the bills aimed to prevent similar fights from taking place in future elections,” the report said.
Contrary to the governor’s characterization of the bills, Republican state Senator Caryn Tyson, said the new legislation aims to do the opposite in a bid to secure “voter accuracy” in succeeding elections.
“Every single vote matters and the accuracy matters. This bill is not about voter suppression it is about voter accuracy and making sure every legal vote counts,” Tyson commented.
Meanwhile, The Star described House Bill 2332 as a measure to “prohibit the executive and judicial branches of government from altering election laws. It also prevents the Secretary of State from entering into consent decrees with a court without legislative approval.”
“House Bill 2183 focuses largely on mail-in voting. It limits who is permitted to return a mail-in ballot for another person and makes it a misdemeanor for one person to return more than 10 mail-in ballots. The measure also requires the signature on a mail ballot to match the signature election officials have on file, creating a potential for votes to be discarded, and bans the Secretary of State from extending mail-in vote deadlines.”
The measure also “makes it illegal” to backdate a postmark on a ballot and bars election offices from accepting money from any entity other than the state for administering elections.
Election reform measures across the country
Republicans in many states have started pushing election-related measures in the aftermath of the controversy-laden 2020 election in a bid to “restore trust” in elections as well as preventing a repeat of the issues that came up during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The most-controversial, perhaps, is Georgia’s “Election Integrity Act of 2021” which Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed in March reforming Georgia’s election laws after the state’s election conduct was launched on the national stage during the past presidential election.
The far-ranging new election law included provisions for new ID requirements for mail-in votes, limiting the use of ballot drop boxes as well as giving the state’s Legislature more reign on election matters over local elections officials. It also bans volunteers from handing out food, water and other tokens to voters in waiting lines.
Governor Kemp has said then that the bill will be “another step toward ensuring our elections are secure, accessible and fair” and to address questions raised during the 2020 elections.
“With Senate Bill 202, Georgia will take another step toward ensuring our elections are secure, accessible and fair,” Kemp said. “Ensuring the integrity of the ballot box isn’t partisan, it’s about protecting the very foundation of who we are as Georgians and Americans.
Democrats — including President Joe Biden — have attacked Georgia’s new election laws. Large corporations have also rallied against the said measures claiming that it will make it harder for marginalized sectors to vote.
The Major League Baseball (MLB) even went as far as pulling its 2021 all-star game and draft out of the state in protest to the changes in the election laws.
But Governor Kemp blasted Democrats and the MLB for caving to “cancel culture” “while lying about what the election reforms actually do.”
“It’s unfortunate that Major League Baseball has caved to the cancel culture, and quite honestly, President Biden and Stacey Abrams and a lot of other people are simply lying about this bill to pressure these organizations,” Kemp said in April.
“This is just a cancel culture, and I’ll tell you, the people at home should be scared because their ballgame is next, their business will be next, their way of life will be next. It is time to stand up and fight this and say, ‘look, we’re not going to take this anymore.’ It’s ridiculous,” Kemp added.
The Major League Baseball (MLB) even went as far as pulling its 2021 all-star game and draft out of the state in protest to the changes in the election laws.
But Governor Kemp blasted Democrats and the MLB for caving to “cancel culture” “while lying about what the election reforms actually do.”
“It’s unfortunate that Major League Baseball has caved to the cancel culture, and quite honestly, President Biden and Stacey Abrams and a lot of other people are simply lying about this bill to pressure these organizations,” Kemp said in April.
“This is just a cancel culture, and I’ll tell you, the people at home should be scared because their ballgame is next, their business will be next, their way of life will be next. It is time to stand up and fight this and say, ‘look, we’re not going to take this anymore.’ It’s ridiculous,” Kemp added.
Despite opposition from liberals, a recent Rasmussen Report found that the majority of voters say it’s more important to prevent cheating in elections than to make it easier to vote following the 2020 election.
The survey also found that 75% of voters say requiring voters to show some form of identification like driver’s license before being allowed to vote is necessary to a “fair and secure election process.”
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