Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Kansas stops enforcing a law against impersonating election officials

News

Kansas stops enforcing a law against impersonating election officials
News

News

Kansas stops enforcing a law against impersonating election officials

2024-08-01 08:37 Last Updated At:08:41

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is no longer enforcing a 3-year-old law making it a felony to impersonate election officials as it faces a legal challenge from critics who argue that the law has hindered efforts to register new voters.

Attorneys for the state and groups suing over the law agreed on stopping its enforcement, and District Judge Teresa Watson in Shawnee County, home to the state capital of Topeka, issued an order earlier this week ratifying their agreement. Her order will remain in effect at least until another court hearing after the November election.

The law made “falsely representing” an elections official punishable by up to 13 months in prison for a first-time offender, though two years' probation would have been the most likely sentence. The crime includes causing someone to believe another person is an election official. The Republican-controlled Legislature enacted the law in 2021 by overriding a veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

The groups challenging the law argue it's so vague that volunteers who register voters could face criminal charges if someone mistakenly believes they are election officials, even if those volunteers are clear that they aren't verbally, in writing or on signs. State officials have scoffed at that argument, but groups curtailed their activities, including one involved in the lawsuit, Loud Light, which seeks to register young people.

“We are fired up and ready to register thousands of young Kansans to vote again,” Davis Hammet, Loud Light's president, said in a statement Wednesday, describing the law as a ”voter registration suppression scheme."

The law was among a series of measures tightening election laws approved by GOP legislators who said they were trying to bolster public confidence in elections. There's no evidence of significant fraud, but baseless conspiracies continue to circulate because of former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

This year, GOP lawmakers hoped to settle the groups' legal challenge by rewriting the law so that someone would have to intentionally impersonate an election official to be guilty of a crime. They had the backing of the state's top elections official, Secretary of State Scott Scwhab, a Republican who has vouched for the integrity of state elections.

Schwab spokesperson Whitney Tempel said the goal was "reducing voter confusion,” but lawmakers tied the change to another measure limiting the spending of federal funds on state elections. Kelly vetoed it, and Republicans couldn't override her.

“The recent temporary injunction issued underscores our concerns and continues to highlight the need to clarify this law,” Tempel said in a statement.

Besides Loud Light, the other groups involved in the lawsuit are the League of Women Voters of Kansas, the Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice and the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center, which advocates for voters with disabilities.

Watson initially refused in 2021 to block the law's enforcement and a state Court of Appeals panel later dismissed the case. But in December, the Kansas Supreme Court revived it, saying the law is vague enough for the groups to contest it.

In May, in a follow-up ruling that involved challenges to other election laws, the Supreme Court directed Watson to reconsider blocking the anti-impersonation law.

But that received far less attention than what the Supreme Court said about voting rights generally.

An article of the state constitution allows people 18 and older to vote, it requires “proper proofs” of their eligibility. A 4-3 majority of the Supreme Court declared that the constitution's Bill of Rights doesn't protect voting as an “inalienable natural” right — an idea the dissenters passionately rejected — significantly lessening the chances that legal challenges to restrictions will succeed.

FILE - A man walks past the Kansas Statehouse from the north in Downtown Topeka, Kan., on June 17, 2024. Kansas is no longer enforcing a 3-year-old law making it a felony to impersonate election officials. (Evert Nelson/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP, File)

FILE - A man walks past the Kansas Statehouse from the north in Downtown Topeka, Kan., on June 17, 2024. Kansas is no longer enforcing a 3-year-old law making it a felony to impersonate election officials. (Evert Nelson/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP, File)

FILE - Davis Hammet, executive director of the voting rights group Loud Light, follows a Kansas Supreme Court hearing on legal challenges to election laws from Loud Light and three other groups, Nov. 3, 2023, in Topeka, Kan. Kansas is no longer enforcing a 3-year-old law making it a felony to impersonate election officials in as it faces a legal challenge from critics who argue that the law has hindered efforts to register new voters. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector via AP, POOL, File)

FILE - Davis Hammet, executive director of the voting rights group Loud Light, follows a Kansas Supreme Court hearing on legal challenges to election laws from Loud Light and three other groups, Nov. 3, 2023, in Topeka, Kan. Kansas is no longer enforcing a 3-year-old law making it a felony to impersonate election officials in as it faces a legal challenge from critics who argue that the law has hindered efforts to register new voters. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector via AP, POOL, File)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — With a sheepish smile and wave to the crowd, Lightning forward Zemgus Girgensons was reminded of his past Saturday night when the Sabres aired a video tribute in honor of his first return since departing Buffalo last summer.

Memorable as his first 10 NHL seasons were with the Sabres, Girgensons has something more to look forward to in his first year in Tampa Bay — a chance to appear in his first career playoff game.

“Definitely just a lot of excitement,” the 31-year-old said following a 3-2 shootout loss, but with Tampa Bay clinching its eighth consecutive postseason berth with the New York Rangers’ 4-0 loss to New Jersey earlier in the day.

What might seem like old hat for a Lightning team heading to the postseason for the 11th time in 12 years, the experience is brand new for Girgensons. Selected in the first round of the 2012 draft, the player from Latvia spent 688 games on a Sabres team on the verge of extending its NHL-record postseason drought to a 14th season.

“Yeah, I mean, definitely that was the main reason why I came here with the players they have and the staff,” Girgensons said of the Lightning's rich playoff history and his decision to sign a three-year contract with Tampa Bay in free agency. “It was almost known, it’s possible to make it.”

And the work’s not done yet. The Lightning’s next objective is securing home-ice advantage in the first round by finishing second in the Atlantic Division, and with an outside shot of finishing first.

In earning a point against Buffalo, Tampa Bay opened a two-point lead on third-place Florida, but fell four points behind division-leading Toronto, with all three teams having six games remaining.

Home-ice advantage would provide a boost for a Lightning team that’s been eliminated in the first round in each of the past two years, and following a three-year run of reaching the Stanley Cup Final, winning in 2020 and ’21, and losing to Colorado in 2022.

Though 4-1-1 in its past six, Tampa Bay has dropped two straight, including a 2-1 loss at Ottawa on Thursday.

Against Buffalo, the Lightning squandered a 2-1 lead on Jason Zucker's power-play goal 5:07 into the third period, with Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch scoring shootout goals to secure the win.

It marked just the third time in 38 outings this season Tampa Bay lost when leading through two periods (35-1-2).

“We’ve clinched the playoff spot, which is all well and good, but we have to close those games out,” coach Jon Cooper said. “Hopefully you can somehow squeak out home ice. That’s why these points are valuable. So I commend the guys that got one (point). It’s too bad we didn’t get two.”

The Lightning might have lost in regulation if not for backup Jonas Johansson stopping 36 shots, including 12 in the third period. There was his glove save on JJ Peterka’s shot from the slot 8:35 into the third, and Johansson turned aside Tage Thompson’s attempt from in close with 63 seconds remaining in regulation.

“They make a lot of plays, so you’ve got to give them that,” Tampa Bay's Brayden Point said of Buffalo in a game in which he scored his 39th goal. “But I think Jo had to make far too many great saves just to keep us in it. And I think that’s something that we need to clean up, especially come playoff time.”

Girgensons said it took a couple of shifts to shake off the nerves in his homecoming. He then laughed when asked how he handled the video tribute in the first period.

“Not good. I don’t like attention, so I was hoping it’s not too long,” Girgensons said, before assessing the night overall. “It would have been a little bit nicer if we came out with the win.”

This story has been corrected to show that the Lightning lost to the Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final in 2022, not 2023.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

FILE - Tampa Bay Lightning's Zemgus Girgensons (28) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Feb. 9, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Tampa Bay Lightning's Zemgus Girgensons (28) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Feb. 9, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Recommended Articles
Hot · Posts