Judge Strikes Down Kansas Ballot Application Restriction

Federal District Judge Kathryn Vratil ruled the Kansas law “Personalized Application Prohibition” is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment.

Under that law, sending applications to voters for mail-in ballots with basic information such as their name or address already filled in was a crime.

Vratil found that the law would “suppress speech which advocates voting by mail.” She wrote, “No evidence of voter fraud effectuated through advance mail voting, prefilled ballot applications or otherwise. Kansas officials publicly declared that the 2020 election was successful, without widespread, systematic issues of voter fraud, intimidation, irregularities or voting problems.”

This nixed the state’s claim that the law was meant to prevent fraud in voting.

Vratil saw clear political motivation behind the law. It was passed by the Republican-dominated legislature weeks after the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection, as Donald Trump and his allies challenged postal voting across the country.

In 2022 Vratil struck down another portion of the same law which barred organizations outside Kansas from sending ballot applications to Kansas voters. A separate lawsuit in front of another judge seeks to reinstate the three day grace period for counting mail-in ballots, which has been stripped by state government.

Click here for more details.