Kansas lawmakers pushed a broad slate of election integrity reforms through the House this week, targeting noncitizen voter roll scrubbing, mail-in ballots, advance voting timelines, and government employee advocacy.
The measures, led by House Elections Committee Chair Rep. Pat Proctor (R-Leavenworth), passed with comfortable margins and now head to the Kansas Senate.
Six bills cleared the chamber, including one that passed without opposition.
Targeting Noncitizen Voting at the Source
At the center of the effort is House Bill 2491, which passed 87–37.
The bill requires public benefits agencies to regularly share the names, addresses, and identifying information of noncitizens with the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office for cross-checking against voter rolls.
The legislation builds on a prior law requiring the Kansas Department of Revenue to provide data for side-by-side comparisons with statewide voter registration records.
House Bill 2448, which passed 77–41, would add citizenship status to Kansas driver’s licenses, creating another verification layer for election officials.
Proctor emphasized that the effort is preventative rather than reactive.
“But we owe it to Kansans to be able to tell them with confidence, ‘No, noncitizens are not voting, and we know because we have all these different ways of scrubbing the voter rolls to make sure they never get on the voter rolls in the first place,’” Proctor said on the House floor.
At a Jan. 29 committee hearing, Clay Barker, general counsel to the Secretary of State’s Office, confirmed that two people have been indicted for fraudulent voting-related crimes, a third indictment is pending, and 10 additional cases are under examination.
It has been illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections since 1996.
Proctor distilled the argument succinctly, noting that “One is too many.”
Democrats Object on Cost Grounds
Rep. Kirk Haskins (D-Topeka), ranking minority member of the House Elections Committee, led Democratic opposition.
“We’re not going to address the fact that county election offices, they don’t even know how much it’s going to cost,” Haskins said.
“But we do need more people.
“This is called by definition an unfunded mandate.”
He also questioned why lawmakers continue to focus on noncitizen voting.
“Emphasizing we have an issue when it’s been proven we don’t time and time again,” he said.
Republicans countered that preventing even rare instances of illegal voting is central to maintaining public trust in elections.
Repealing All-Mail Elections
House Bill 2503, passed 72–50, would repeal Kansas’ Mail Ballot Election Act, eliminating the option for jurisdictions to conduct elections exclusively by mail.
Mail voting itself would remain legal, but local governments would no longer be able to make it the sole method of casting ballots.
Supporters argue the change ensures voters always have access to in-person polling places while preserving mail as an option.
Tightening Advance Voting Deadlines
House Bill 2453, passed 86–38, restructures Kansas’ advance voting calendar:
• The deadline to request a mail-in ballot moves from the Tuesday before Election Day to two weeks prior.
• Clerks must send ballots 22 days before an election.
• In-person advance voting ends the Friday before Election Day instead of noon the day before.
• Counties may optionally extend in-person voting to noon on the Sunday before Election Day.
• Voter registration closes after the 25th day before an election.
• Advance mail ballots may be canvassed and challenged after polls close.
Rep. Sandy Pickert (R-Wichita), who sponsored the bill, argued that earlier deadlines allow election officials more time to verify ballots and reduce administrative strain.
Government Employees Restricted from Advocacy
House Bill 2451, passed 88–36, would prohibit government employees from advocating for or against proposed constitutional amendments or ballot questions while acting in their official capacity.
The measure drew bipartisan support, including votes from Rep. Wanda Brownlee Paige (D-Kansas City) and Rep. Angela Martinez (D-Wichita).
Another bill, House Bill 2733, passed without opposition.
It requires certain elected officials to reside in Kansas and in their districts upon election and throughout their terms.
A Different Strategy from the Past
Kansas previously enacted a proof-of-citizenship voting law backed by then-Secretary of State Kris Kobach, now serving as attorney general.
That law was struck down after courts ruled it prevented more than 30,000 Kansans from voting over three years.
This new package takes a different approach.
Rather than requiring voters to present proof of citizenship at registration, the bills focus on backend data-sharing between agencies and proactive auditing of voter rolls.
Supporters argue that the revised framework is designed to withstand legal scrutiny by targeting interagency coordination rather than imposing new documentation burdens on voters.
The bills now move to the Kansas Senate.
Proctor, who is running for secretary of state, has made election integrity a central plank of both his legislative agenda and campaign platform.
The decisive House votes suggest broad Republican support for tightening election procedures ahead of the next election cycle.
Kansas voters will ultimately determine whether the reforms enhance confidence in the state’s election system.
READ MORE – Democrat Rep: Voter ID Laws Are ‘Racist, Misogynistic Trash’
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