Kansas Legislature passes package of elections bills that alter voting processes
Reps. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat, and Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican, sit together on the House Elections Committee on Jan. 27, 2026, in Topeka, Kansas. The two are on opposing sides of a package of elections bills. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — Kansas Republicans passed a package of legislation that purports to bolster election integrity but evoked warnings from Democrats of potential voter suppression.
Despite pleas Wednesday from the top Democrat on the House Elections Committee to let the legislation die, most Republicans supported House Bills 2569 and 2437.
HB 2569 could eliminate no-excuse mail-in voting if any judge in the state deems the state’s ballot signature verification law to be invalid. It also mandates all voting rights challenges in Kansas be heard in Shawnee County, where a judge who handles civil cases has leaned to the right.
HB 2437 deputizes the Secretary of State to twice a year cross-reference driver’s license records and state voter rolls against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database. It also restricts voter registration websites to .gov domains or state-approved sites and requires county elections officials to remove people from their voter rolls when a funeral home publishes a person’s obituary.
Some Kansas Republicans characterize these as common sense election reforms.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, applauded the passage of HB 2437, or the SAVE Kansas Act.
“This legislation reflects our commitment to maintaining accurate voter rolls while protecting the rights of every eligible Kansas voter for decades to come,” Schwab said in a Thursday news release.
Democrats, however, say the legislation embodied legal recklessness, contained technical inaccuracies and could be considered in violation of federal law.
Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat and the ranking minority member on the House Elections Committee, said HB 2437 contained legal errors and HB 2569 represented a direct assault on voters’ due process rights.
House Elections Committee chairman Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican who is running for secretary of state, said HB 2437 is a way to ensure state agencies aren’t accidentally putting ineligible voters on the rolls.
It mandates state agencies that register people to vote, including departments that maintain driver’s license information and public assistance data, share personal information, including Social Security numbers, with the Secretary of State’s Office.
“Newsflash, that’s against the law,” Haskins said.
The bill contains provisions requiring SAVE data and voter information to be processed securely in a way that adheres to state and federal protection standards. Haskins maintained the SAVE database was not designed as a voter registration verification tool.
“It is a violation of federal law, yet we are still going to ask that this bill be passed,” Haskins said. “What are we doing?”
The House voted 80-43 to pass HB 2437 on Thursday.
HB 2569 initially only contained the provision requiring all voting challenges to be heard in Shawnee County District Court in Topeka.
Proctor inserted another proposal during legislative negotiations. It requires the secretary of state to monitor signature verification lawsuits in Kansas, and if any judge decides to invalidate or enjoin a signature requirement, Kansas voters without an excuse — such as temporarily living out of state, sickness, disability or religious belief — would be forbidden from voting in advance by mail.
Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat, said HB 2569 was part of “a war of attrition” on advanced voting.
Rep. Ken Rahjes, an Agra Republican who is also running for Secretary of State, made impassioned remarks, breaking from many of his colleagues in opposing the bill.
“Mail-in ballots are good for most Kansans,” he said.
The House voted 78-45 to pass HB 2569. Both votes were just short of the two-thirds majority required to override the governor’s veto, if she chooses to do so.
The Senate on Thursday passed both bills 28-12.