Can you be charged with a felony for helping Kansas voters get registered? That's back in court

The Kansas Supreme Court has revived a challenge to a law that caused voter advocacy groups to cancel registration drives.
The Kansas Supreme Court has revived a challenge to a state law that caused advocacy groups to cancel voter registration drives.

The justices ruled Friday that the Kansas Court of Appeals wrongly threw out a legal challenge. The new decision brings the lawsuit back to life after the lower court knocked it out by ruling that the advocacy groups did not have standing to challenge the law.

The justices sent the lawsuit back to the appeals court to consider again.

Teresa Woody, litigation director for Kansas Appleseed, one of the plaintiffs, said they are pleased with the ruling and hope to see the statute enjoined permanently.

“It’s so important because these kinds of statutes that make it more difficult to participate in our political process and in our democracy are anti-democratic,” Woody said.

The League of Women Voters, Loud Light and other groups challenged the 2021 law because it makes it a crime to engage in conduct that would cause someone to believe you are an election worker.