GOP lawmakers override governor veto to pass voter suppression SAVE Kansas Act

A Kansas law banning online voter registration through any non-government website and expanding voter purging practices was enacted last week after lawmakers overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s (D) veto of the bill.

The SAVE Kansas Act mimics parts of the anti-voting SAVE America Act by burdening the voter registration process and easing voter purging procedures. Voters can no longer get registered online via community organizations, civic associations and other Get Out The Vote (GOTV) groups. Under the new law, only websites with a .gov domain can be used for online registration, unless the state secretary grants exceptions.

The law also allows the state secretary to cross check its voter rolls against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, and to obtain personal information from other state agencies in efforts to broaden the net for purging voters.

The law’s enactment makes Kansas just the latest state to pass its own version of President Donald Trump’s agenda of restricting ballot access and suppressing voter turnout.

This legislation would impose restrictions on online voter registration that could suppress civic engagement and make it harder for Kansans to vote,” said Gov. Kelly when she vetoed the bill on April 8. “Furthermore, this legislation directs certain state agencies to provide the personal information—including name, date of birth, residential address, and the last four digits of the social security number—of public assistance benefit recipients to the Secretary of State’s Office, even though disclosure of this information may be prohibited under federal law.”

The state legislature overrode her veto the next day.




https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/gop-lawmakers-override-governor-veto-to-pass-voter-suppression-save-kansas-act/