2 men end federal lawsuit over Kansas voter ID law

Two elderly northeast Kansas men have dropped a federal lawsuit challenging a state law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Attorney Jim Lawing said Thursday that Arthur Spry and Charles Hamner asked to have the case dismissed because a trial wasn’t set until next year and they found requests for personal information intrusive. The two men live in a retirement home in Overbrook.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil in Kansas City, Kan., granted their request Wednesday for a dismissal.

Spry and Hamner sued Secretary of State Kris Kobach after their votes in the November 2012 election weren’t counted because they couldn’t produce valid photo ID.

Kobach said Thursday it’s unlikely the men would have prevailed because a photo ID requirement doesn’t violate the state or U.S. constitutions.