This blog originally appeared at AP NEWS.

The Kansas Supreme Court delivered a mixed ruling on Friday regarding multiple challenges to a 2021 election law. The court sided with state officials on one provision, revived challenges to others, and suggested that at least one challenge could be resolved before this year’s general election.

However, the most contentious part of the ruling was the majority opinion on the ballot signature verification measure, which stated that the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights does not guarantee the right to vote. This opinion sparked strong dissent from three of the court’s seven justices.

The ballot signature verification measure mandates that election officials compare the signatures on advance mail ballots with those in voter registration records. While the state Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit challenging this measure, the majority rejected arguments from voting rights groups that it violates state constitutional voting rights.

In fact, Justice Caleb Stegall, writing for the majority, said that the dissenting justices wrongly accused the majority of ignoring past precedent, holding that the court has not identified a “fundamental right to vote” within the state constitution.

RELATED COVERAGE

Florida and Kansas are accusing 2 people of forging signatures for petition drives

Kansas leaders and new group ramp up efforts to lure the Kansas City Chiefs from Missouri

The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that voting is not a fundamental right. What’s next for voters?

“It simply is not there,” Stegall wrote.

Justice Eric Rosen, one of the three who dissented, shot back: “It staggers my imagination to conclude Kansas citizens have no fundamental right to vote under their state constitution.”

“I cannot and will not condone this betrayal of our constitutional duty to safeguard the foundational rights of Kansans,” Rosen added.

Conversely, the high court unanimously sided with the challengers of a different provision that makes it a crime for someone to give the appearance of being an election official. Voting rights groups, including Kansas League of Women Voters and the nonprofit Loud Light, argued the measure suppresses free speech and their ability to register voters as some might wrongly assume volunteers are election workers, putting them at risk of criminal prosecution.

Read More: https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-kansas-supreme-court-0a0b5eea5c57cf54a9597d8a6f8a300e