TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas plans to do a partial hand recount of this month’s decisive vote in favor of abortion rights that received’t change the result after abortion opponents charged nearly $120,000 to bank cards Monday to cowl the fee.

The Kansas secretary of state’s workplace stated the recount will happen in 9 of the state’s 105 counties that account for greater than half of the votes solid on the Aug. 2 abortion poll query, together with 4 of the state’s 5 most populous counties. The no facet prevailed in eight of the 9 counties.

The recount request got here Friday from Melissa Leavitt, an election conspiracy promoter from Colby in far western Kansas, however Mark Gietzen, a hard-right anti-abortion activist from Wichita who additionally promotes election conspiracies, pledged to assist pay for the recount. Gietzen used a bank card to pay for all however $1,500 of the prices, the determine for Leavitt’s house of Thomas County, the one one of many 9 counties the place the anti-abortion facet prevailed.

Voters on Aug. 2 overwhelmingly rejected a proposed modification to the Kansas Structure that might have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to additional prohibit abortion or ban it. The “no” facet prevailed by 18 share factors, or 165,000 votes. For the 9 counties doing the recount, the margin was 31 share factors.

There was no proof of serious issues with the election. Baseless election conspiracies have circulated broadly within the U.S., significantly amongst supporters of former President Donald Trump, who has repeated false claims that he misplaced the 2020 election by way of fraud.

State Elections Director Bryan Caskey initially rejected Leavitt’s proposal to make use of Gietzen’s “monetary belongings” for the required bond to cowl the $229,000 in prices for a statewide recount. He gave her till 5 p.m. Monday to seek out another but in addition instructed her that the request could possibly be narrowed to particular counties to decrease the prices.

Leavitt didn’t instantly reply to a phone message Monday night searching for remark, however she has a web-based fundraising effort and had acquired greater than $41,000 in donations as of Monday night.

“We’re getting plenty of donations in,” Gietzen stated. “We’re fundraising lots proper now.”

Kansas regulation says the particular person searching for a recount pays for it until it modifications the result, by which case counties do.

The Kansas secretary of state’s workplace says counties have 5 days, till Saturday, to complete their recount. State regulation contemplates beginning the clock when a recount request is made — making the deadline 5 p.m. Wednesday — however Whitney Tempel, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s workplace, stated it was attempting to be “accommodating” and can ask the Legislature to rewrite the regulation subsequent yr.

Some counties didn’t end compiling their last outcomes till Monday, the final day they may accomplish that, as a result of they have been reviewing provisional ballots solid by voters when ballot staff weren’t positive they have been eligible.

These counties included Douglas County in northeastern Kansas, which is house to the principle College of Kansas campus, the place preliminary outcomes confirmed 81.5% of voters had rejected the proposed abortion modification. County Clerk Jamie Shew, an elected Democrat, stated he made plans to herald 18 to 20 folks to do the recount and begin Tuesday.

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Observe John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna

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