Does freedom of speech allow interference in election administration?
Kansas officials appeal to Tenth Circuit, US Court of Appeals for control of election administration
US District Judge Kathyrn Vratil found certain provisions of Kansas House Bill 2332 were unconstitutional on May 4.
Vratil’s decision meant out-of-state, third-party groups’ “freedom of speech” allowed them to send filled-out applications for advance ballot requests even if those mailing caused confusion to the voters and the election offices.
The defendants in the case, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, and Johnson County District attorney Stephen Howe, filed an appeal on June 1.
PACER shows minimal court filings about this appeal on Sunday.
Problems in Kansas
Court records in the original case showed problems with duplicate mail ballot applications and confusion by voters.
Shawnee County election commissioner Andrew Howell said a number of voters blamed his office (“expressed anger and frustration at the purported incompetency of the office”) because of duplicates and errors in the pre-filled applications sent by the Voter Participation Center.
Ford County Clerk Debora Cox in court records said she place ads in three Ford County newspapers to remind voters the pre-filled applications were from VPC, or sister organization Center for Voter Information, and had not come from the county election office.
Kansas Election Director Bryan Caskey said he had “dozens if not hundreds of conversations” with county election officials regarding the “flood” of duplicate advance ballot applications.
Court records indicate county election offices received approximately 14,739 duplicate applications using VPC- or CVI-provided envelopes.
Summary of VPC/CVI Mailings to Kansans in 2022
VPC and CVI sent over 215,000 advance ballot applications to Kansans in 2022, but that was only a small part of their total 1.5 million mailings.
Problems by Similar Mailings in Other States
Information about VPC/CVI mailings in over a dozen states can be viewed online.
Kentucky
State officials warn of election scams; public asked to report incidents, Henderson Gleaner, Sept. 15, 2020.
Two alleged election scams have been targeting Kentuckians, Secretary of State Michael Adams and Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Tuesday. But an organization they claim participated in one of those "scams" accused the two Kentucky officials of spreading misinformation.
In a news release Tuesday, Adams and Cameron said registered Kentucky voters have been receiving letters from the Center for Voter Information — a national non-profit and non-partisan organization — encouraging them to register to vote (even though they already are).
The news release said this confuses people and that while the Center for Voter Information "purports to have a Frankfort address on its mailers," the address actually represents a mailbox at a UPS Store.
North Carolina
11,000 incorrect voter registration forms sent to potential NC voters, Carolina Public Press, Jordan Wilkie, Oct. 7, 2020.
…In June, another advocacy group sent out 80,000 invalid absentee-by-mail ballot requests to voters. While it is legal to send out pre-filled voter registration applications (except for party affiliation), it is illegal to send out a pre-filled absentee ballot application. That distinction was lost on the Center for Voter Information. …
Improperly filled-out mailers, along with bad information found online, can confuse voters. In the cases of Civitech and the Center for Voter Information, the errors appear to be a result of mistakes rather than maliciousness.
Pennsylvania
Heads Up, Voters: VPC/CVI Mailings Are Not Affiliated with Bucks County Board of Elections, Buck County Government, Pennsylvania, April 21, 2022.
The Bucks County Board of Elections is notifying voters of coming mailings from the Voter Participation Center and Center for Voter Information (VPC/CVI), which have no connection to the county.
In previous years, mailings from the organizations have caused confusion among voters and resulted in a flood of phone calls and duplicate applications submitted to the county Board of Elections Office.
Virginia
Liberal group sends masses of mail-in ballot applications to voters — many with errors, peeving election officials, Emily Brooks, Washington Examiner.
The “potentially misleading” mailings, which contain legitimate ballot applications but at first glance appear to many recipients to be from an official government source, have confused voters and peeved election officials. …
Contrary to the organization’s own goal, it has repeatedly sent voters incorrect information. This week, hundreds of thousands of mailers in Virginia had incorrect election office addresses on prepaid return envelopes. Earlier in the summer, it sent thousands of North Carolina voters forms that were invalid because the group had partially filled them out. And in previous years, dead people and pets received voter registration forms from the group.
The Center for Voter Information, a non-partisan 501(c)4 nonprofit advocacy organization, is responsible for the mail-in ballot applications, along with an affiliate 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit organization called the Voter Participation Center that is also sending mass numbers of ballot applications.
Related
The Foundation for Government Accountability files Amicus Curiae brief in support of Kansas’ appeal. Aug. 1, 2023.
How Simpson Thacher Beat Kansas Vote-By-Mail Restrictions, Marco Poggio, Law360, June 23, 2023.
