'Voter suppression': Kansas lawmakers advance changes to take control of elections [View all]

TOPEKA -- Kansas lawmakers, following a trend in Republican-controlled statehouses nationwide, gave initial approval Wednesday to bills that would strip the executive and judicial branches of some authority over elections and make it more difficult to cast a ballot by mail.

One of the measures would bar the Governor and courts from altering election laws. The other limits who is permitted to return a mail-in ballot on behalf of another person and makes it a felony for an individual to return more than five mail-in ballots.

The changes were approved on a 28-12 vote, despite reports from Secretary of State Scott Schwab in January that Kansas had a “free and fair” election last year.

The Senate’s action is part of an impassioned national debate about voting rights.

Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article250349886.html