Kansas Abortion Ballot Measure Set For Longshot Recount—If Voters Who Requested It Can Pay $230,000

Topline

Kansas counties may soon start recounting votes for the state’s ballot measure on abortion rights, a longshot effort after it failed in a landslide vote—but the anti-abortion advocates seeking a recount must pay the state $230,000 by 5 p.m. Monday to make it happen, the Kansas City Star reports.

A supporter of the Vote Yes to a Constitutional Amendment on Abortion holds up a sign along 135th … [+] Street on August 1 in Olathe, Kansas.

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Key Facts

Kansas voters overwhelmingly shot down the “Value Them Both” ballot measure on August 2, which would have amended the state’s Constitution to say it does not protect abortion rights and would have given lawmakers license to restrict or ban abortion.

Kansas resident Melissa Leavitt, a self-described “advocate for election integrity,” requested a recount before the deadline Friday and posted a $200,000 bond to pay for it, and the Kansas Secretary of State’s office confirmed the state would carry out the recount as a result, the Kansas City Star reported.

Under Kansas law, voters can request recounts on ballot measures, but they have to show they can pay for it if it doesn’t actually change the results, though any county where the result does change would absorb the cost (the total amount needed is dependent on how many counties the recount is requested in).

Anti-abortion activist Mark Geitzen has offered to fund the effort on Leavitt’s behalf and told the Star he’ll do “whatever it takes” to fund the recount—as the bond Leavitt posted is not the same as actually paying it—but the Star reported Monday the state has rejected Geitzen’s attempt to pay the bond by putting up assets as collateral, like his home.

Geitzen and Leavitt must pay the full bond through cash, check, a cashier’s check or credit card, the Star reports—after previously reporting the credit card Geitzen attempted to pay with could not cover the entire amount—and Leavitt’s fundraiser to pay for the recount has only raised approximately $33,500 as of Monday afternoon.

Geitzen has previously suggested to the Star that the recount could be limited to a smaller number of counties if the entire fee can’t be paid, though it’s unclear if the state would comply with that request.

Big Number

165,389. That’s how many votes the ballot measure was defeated by, according to the Kansas Secretary of State’s office, as 59% of voters were against the constitutional amendment and 41% were in favor. Leavitt alleged on the recount’s fundraising page she has “seen data” suggesting there are “irregularities” in the vote totals, but has not elaborated on that claim, and there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the Kansas election supporting her allegations.

Contra

The recount effort isn’t supported by the Value Them Both Coalition, which led the campaign to pass the constitutional amendment. “Every citizen has the right to request recounts, but our focus is now on moving the cause of life forward in Kansas—not looking back to August 2nd,” a spokesperson told Fox 4.

Surprising Fact

The recount would be the first on a statewide ballot measure in Kansas in 30 years, Kansas state elections director Bryan Caskey told the Associated Press.

Key Background

The Kansas ballot measure vote marked the first major test of voters’ sentiments on abortion rights following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24. Kansas is one of an increasingly few majority-Republican states where abortion remains legal, as the Kansas Supreme Court has previously upheld protections for the procedure, keeping lawmakers from passing any new bans. If the constitutional amendment had passed, it would have nullified that court ruling and paved the way for new restrictions. The ballot measure’s landslide failure—a surprise result, after polls projected the amendment would narrowly succeed—has been viewed as a sign of voters’ overwhelming support for abortion rights and aversion to abortion bans, even in states where the GOP dominates. The Kansas election could be a harbinger of votes to come, as more abortion-related ballot measures and races that could shape state and federal abortion policies will be on ballots across the country in November.