Kansas Legislature overrides Kelly’s veto on bill blocking election law consent decrees
Kansas lawmakers overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto Monday to enact a law pushed by a conservative Florida organization in response to unfounded claims of election fraud in other states.
The measure, approved with a two-thirds majority in the Kansas House and Senate, bars the Kansas governor, secretary of state and attorney general from entering into consent decrees changing election law in the state.
The bill was proposed and pushed for by the Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project The group for years has lobbied for efforts restricting access to welfare in states and began pushing for new election laws, including restrictions to mail-in voting, after the 2020 election when former President Donald Trump and his allies pushed false claims of voter fraud.
Some of those claims pointed to pre-litigation settlements in states like Georgia as evidence of fraud. According to The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the settlement required election workers to notify voters quickly if their absentee ballot was rejected.
Proponents of the bill in Kansas said the bill would ensure election law stayed in the hands of lawmakers.
“The Legislature is the one that establishes laws,” Rep. Emil Bergquist, a Park City Republican, said. “There’s not a reason to forego the approval of the Legislature.”
But the measure did not respond to any event in Kansas. Proponents pointed to a pre-litigation settlement Gov. Laura Kelly reached with Loud Light, a left-leaning civic engagement group, last year. But that agreement related to federal law on providing voter registration forms to Kansans receiving social services, state not election law.
In her veto message, Kelly said the bill tied the hands of executive officials.
“There are times when it is necessary or actually better to enter into a consent decree than to require that we litigate an unconstitutional law,” said Rep. Vic Miller, a Topeka Democrat.
This story was originally published May 23, 2022 at 3:06 PM.
