A Kansas pro-life group is demanding that a local election official remove ballot drop boxes ahead of a critical vote on abortion in the state—and the group is using voter fraud as its justification.
According to reporting from The Wichita Eagle, the Value Them Both amendment (which is on the Aug. 2, primary), if approved, would fully eliminate abortion access rights from the Kansas Constitution.
Donna Lippoldt is the leader of Culture Shield Network, a deeply religious Christian organization. She believes in the erasure of the division of church and state and is pushing to elect lawmakers who believe in the Big Lie.
RELATED STORY: ‘Close to zero’: Texas woman and OB-GYN fought Texas to permit induced delivery on nonviable fetus
Campaign Action
Lippoldt has been a crusader against abortion since 1991, when she protested in front of Wichita abortion clinics, harassing patients as they entered. She participated in these anti-abortion actions until, according to the Eagle, Dr. George Tiller was assassinated by anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder in 2009.
Despite the fact that the ballot boxes are under lock and key and surveilled by video 24/7, the Culture Shield Network reportedly claimed to Sedgwick County commissioners that its ballot boxes could be easily manipulated because they were “unmanned” and because the county accepted an $816,000 grant from Center for Tech and Civic Life that was partially funded by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Yes, that’s right, the old Facebook conspiracy theory is alive and well in Kansas.
In case you missed it, conservatives and right-wing paranoids have been blaming Zuckerberg for Trump’s loss in 2020, and believe that, somehow, the former president got more votes than were counted. A 41-minute documentary titled Rigged: The Zuckerberg Plot to Defeat Donald Trump fails to explain it, but does offer a lot for the tinfoil hat people to chew on.
“We don’t really trust Mark Zuckerberg. … And so it’s awkward for us to imagine our county decided to take the money and use it,” Lippoldt said.
The only evidence of foul play Lippoldt’s group has is the MAGA propaganda film 2000 Mules.
Despite demands to remove the boxes, several county commissioners have taken umbrage at the conspiracy theories, citing worries about GOP voters refusing to turn out on election days.
The Kansas vote will be the first state in the nation to decide on abortion protections following the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24. According to The Washington Post, the vote is expected to be a close one.
The Post reports that pro-choice activists say the challenges are many—holding the vote on the same day as the state’s primary, for one, and even the wording of the measure itself. A “no” vote would mean safeguarding abortion rights, and a “yes” vote could result in those rights being overturned, the New Republic explains.
Rotonda Johnson, 56, of Wichita, told the Post, “When they say on the TV ‘say yes’ or ‘say no,’ it’s confusing to me. … I had to ask, which way for yes and which way for no? Either way, I don’t think the government should stop abortion.”
Ashley All, the spokesperson for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, which opposes the amendment, says, “We have focused a lot on making sure voters understand that this amendment changes the Constitution and eliminates constitutional rights that we already have.”
The frightening thing is that Culture Shield Network is not just Lippoldt and a few like-minded MAGA friends. According to the Eagle, the group comprises a governor appointee, a prominent speaker on health care, one of the country’s most well-known Creationists, people with deep ties to Koch Industries, teachers, a pastor, engineers, and top members of the Catholic Church, to name a few.
Abortion rights, climate change, and gun safety are all on the ballot this fall, and there are literally thousands of ways to get involved in turning our voters. Plug into a federal, state, or local campaign from our GOTV feed at Mobilize and help Democrats and progressives win in November.