Lawmakers attempt to leverage long mail processing times to silence Kansans and stop counting votes
A proposed bill that would eliminate the 3-day window for mail ballot processing would disenfranchise thousands of rural, disabled, and elderly Kansas voters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 21, 2024
CONTACT: Esmie Tseng, ACLU of Kansas, [email protected]
TOPEKA, KAN. – A proposed bill that would eliminate the mail processing window for mail-in ballots would silence thousands of rural, disabled, and elderly Kansas voters. The ACLU of Kansas is calling on extremist lawmakers to abandon their early legislative attempt to weaken Kansans’ voices by punishing Kansans who have no control over the processing speed of the federal postal service.
“This bill punishes Kansas voters for the basic logistics or troubles of the federal postal service,” said Micah Kubic, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kansas. “We remember that in previous sessions lawmakers have used a revolving door of justifications for similar proposals to toss out perfectly valid votes cast by eligible citizens. Let us call this effort what it really is: an attempt to silence Kansans and make fewer Kansans’ votes count.”
During and following the November 2024 general election, the ACLU of Kansas and the Election Protection hotline received numerous phone, email, and online inquiries from Kansas voters concerned about whether their votes would count or had been counted.
“Counting thousands of ballots carefully and accurately takes time – and it should,” said Kubic. “Lawmakers should abandon the childish notion that the mail works like a science fiction gadget, with a physical object moving instantaneously from point A to point B. Mail takes a few days to be processed – including in more rural parts of the state that have fewer postal workers and where mail is sometimes sent out-of-state to be processed before returning to Kansas. Everyday Kansans know this, even if legislators pretend that they do not; Kansans know that the mail, including important items like ballots, takes a few days to reach its destination. Getting rid of the mail processing window and tossing out votes from eligible citizens who did everything right ignores the fundamental aspect of administering elections that election officials, election workers, and post office workers need time to do their jobs. It’s deeply troubling to see lawmakers leverage misinformation, falsehoods, and a framework that is plainly out of touch with the reality that Kansans live, to attempt to silence Kansans’ voices and weaken Kansas’s democracy.”
Kansans can contact their lawmakers about SB 4 (HB 2017) here.
The ACLU has called on state and local officials throughout the country to build a firewall for freedom that would protect fundamental rights from likely attacks from extremists during the second Trump administration. The ACLU of Kansas recently rolled out its own Firewall for Freedom initiative, which seeks to win proactive civil liberties protections on the local level and empower local communities to exercise their influence and power.
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About the ACLU of Kansas: The ACLU of Kansas is the statewide affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to preserving and advancing the civil rights and legal freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For more information, visit our website at www.aclukansas.org.
