Kansas recount confirms results in favor of abortion rights

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Election officials say a decisive statewide vote in favor of abortion rights in Kansas has been confirmed with a partial hand recount. Nine of the state’s 105 counties recounted votes at the request of two activists who questioned the conduct of the election without providing evidence of problems. The results were confirmed Sunday when Sedgwick County released its results a day after missing a state deadline. Voters on Aug. 2 rejected a ballot measure that would have removed protections for abortion rights from the Kansas Constitution and allowed the Legislature to further restrict abortion or ban it. It failed by 18 percentage points, or 165,000 votes statewide.