Kansas activist sues for a statewide abortion recount

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas anti-abortion activist is suing for a complete hand recount of an election in which voters soundly rejected a proposal to remove abortion rights from the state’s constitution.

Mark Gietzen is representing himself in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Sedgwick County District Court after a nine-county hand recount that his supporters largely funded wrapped up over the weekend. Fewer than 100 votes changed out of more than 500,000 cast in those counties. The measure failed by about 165,000 votes statewide.

Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab said in a news release that the recount results should “put to rest the unfounded claims of election fraud.”

In the lawsuit, Gietzen alleges without evidence that votes statewide might have been vulnerable to the same type of programming error that initially switched results in a county commission race. The suit also seeks a revote “where necessary.”

A judge quickly dismissed a lawsuit Gietzen filed before the election seeking to have ballot drop boxes removed across the state.