To the editor:

Have you noticed that following the 2020 election, hundreds of anti-voter bills have been introduced in state legislatures around the country? These restrictive voting bills include implementing stricter voter ID laws, restricting votes by mail, limiting voter registration availability, and aggressively purging voters from the rolls.

The 2020 election was one of the most safe and secure elections we have had. One in three Kansans successfully voted by mail and every county safely utilized mail ballot drop off locations.

Here are some of the bills that have been introduced into the Kansas legislature:

• Senate Bill 394 and House Bill 2585 require all advanced voting ballots be returned by 7 p.m. on election day.

• Senate Bill 388 requires the use of the U.S. postal service when returning an advance ballot by mail; cannot use FedEx or other services.

• Senate Bill 445 Arbitrarily restricts advanced ballot drop boxes, limiting it to one drop box per 30,000 Kansans. This would reduce the number of drop boxes in at least 30 Kansas counties.

• HB 2056 (the use of Kratom supplements) has been gutted and replaced by SB 394 that does the following:

a. Reduces our ability to register to vote by shortening the voter registration period.

b. Abolishes the three-day vote protection period for ballots arriving by mail, which would throw out tens of thousands of legal votes cast before election day.

Kansans deserve the right to cast their ballots safely without unnecessary state government interference. The legislature should focus on passing pro-voter laws that empower our local election officials to respond to the need of voters in our communities – not restricting voting methods that we have safely used for decades while cutting the time that Kansans can register to vote.

Come join the League of Women Voters at our public meeting on Thursday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m. in the lower-level meeting room at the public library to meet the new Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters of Great Bend and Barton County. We will share with you our past, current, and future activities. We are looking forward to inviting community members to join the League who want to help us to Empower Voters and Defend Democracy.

Janice Walker, President LWV-GB/Barton County

Great Bend