Here's How Activists Are Challenging Voting Restrictions
Local and state activists are using lawsuits, money and public pressure to push back against new laws that would make voting harder for marginalized groups.
A "This Way To Vote" sign and sample ballots inside of a polling location in Atlanta on Jan. 5, 2021.
Photographer: Aboubacar Kante/BloombergOn June 1, the League of Women Voters of Kansas, along with several other voting rights groups, sued the Kansas Secretary of State and Attorney General in a challenge to new laws that include criminalizing anyone who “gives the appearance of being an election official” or anything “that would cause another person to believe a person engaging in such conduct is an election official.”
The state already has an existing law that makes it illegal to impersonate an election official. However, the new law would also apply to advocates such as the League of Women Voters of Kansas, who assist voters with disabilities and other people who need special assistance when casting ballots. That means bringing more than 10 advance ballots to the polls on behalf of other people, like the elderly or people with disabilities, could now be considered a criminal act, and such assistance could lead to 15 to 17 months in prison.