Research from Earl F. Glynn with Watchdog Lab indicates more mail ballot requests for the upcoming August primary have been received from Democrats and female voters in the first week of advance voting in Kansas, according to the Office of the Secretary of State. Meanwhile, testimony began this week in Topeka in a lawsuit over the state’s law that forbids election officers from counting advance ballots without a signature or if the signature does not match that of the voter on file.
Glynn estimates Democrats hold a 47-41 lead so far, about a 2,800-vote margin, while females have requested 64% of advance mail ballots.
But the fate of all those ballot applications hinges on a five-year-old lawsuit being argued in Shawnee County District Court.
The statute in contention reads:
25-1124. Advance voting; marking and mailing or depositing ballots; signature match required, when; procedures for voters needing assistance; unlawful acts and penalties. (a) Upon receipt of the advance voting ballot, the voter shall cast such voter’s vote as follows: The voter shall make a cross or check mark in the square or parentheses opposite the name of each candidate or question for whom the voter desires to vote. The voter shall make no other mark, and shall allow no other person to make any mark, upon such ballot. If the advance voting ballot was transmitted by mail, the voter personally shall place the ballot in the ballot envelope bearing the same number as the ballot and seal the envelope. The voter shall complete the form on the ballot envelope and shall sign the same. Except as provided by K.S.A. 25-2908, and amendments thereto, the ballot envelope shall be mailed or otherwise transmitted to the county election officer. If the advance voting ballot was transmitted to the voter in person in the office of the county election officer or at a satellite advance voting site, the voter may deposit such ballot into a locked ballot box without an envelope.
The lawsuit has gone through several iterations since its 2021 filing, but the opinion among the plaintiffs, such as The League of Women Voters and others, remains the same; the law violates the Kansas Constitution’s equal protection and due process guarantees.
The mail ballot trial is expected to wrap up by July 28th.
August 4th is the primary election in Kansas.
