The Kansas Senate on Thursday moved to fix a state elections law that Sedgwick County officials cited last year when they threw out 23 disabled Kansans’ votes in a local election. Senators voted 39-0 in favor of Senate Bill 264, which clarifies disabled and elderly voters who may need assistance filling out their mail-in ballot do not have to sign it. The bill still faces another vote to pass the Senate. Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, a Wichita Democrat, brought the issue after the Sedgwick County Board of Canvassers decided to throw out 23 advance ballots because disabled voters had not signed them. Current law says that voters are required to sign their advance ballots.
Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City Democrat, said the bill was simple, but important. He also thanked Faust-Goudeau for bringing the bill because the votes were thrown out in her district.
“It’s that kind of fortitude all of us want to have for those in our county,” Haley said.
Faust-Goudeau thanked Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office, which administers elections, for supporting the bill.
Full Article: Kansas Senate votes to fix elections law after Sedgwick County throws out votes.