Tag: elections

Kansas agrees new mail ballot restrictions are unconstitutional, will pay legal fees

by Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — A federal court on Friday struck down parts of a new Kansas law that criminalized the distribution of advanced mail ballot applications.

The state agreed not to object to arguments raised by nonprofit organizations that said the 2021 law violates the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The state also agreed not to appeal the decision and will pay attorney fees and court costs of the plaintiffs.

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed House Bill 2332 last year, but the law was upheld by the GOP supermajority in the Legislature. Motivated by bogus claims of widespread voter fraud in other states, lawmakers targeted out-of-state groups that bombarded voters in 2020 with applications to receive advanced ballots.

VoteAmerica and the Voter Participation Center, which were represented in court by the Campaign Legal Center, filed the lawsuit last year against Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil issued a temporary order in November blocking enforcement of the law. In her Friday order, Vratil said the contested sections of the law violate the U.S. Constitution.

“This is a big win for civic engagement groups nationwide,” said Danielle Lang, voting rights director at Campaign Legal Center. “Legislators are taking needless aim at folks that are just trying to give voters the materials they need to participate. This decision should serve as a warning to those who target them.”

The law banned the distribution of mail ballot applications by out-of-state groups and made it a crime to send mail ballot applications with the voter’s name and address already filled out.

Tom Lopach, president and CEO of the Voter Participation Center, said the court order will allow civic engagement groups to continue working to make voting access easier.

“We’re proud that we fought back against this effort to limit access to our democracy and won,” Lopach said. “At the Voter Participation Center, we will keep fighting to overturn anti-voter efforts and ensure every American can make their voice heard.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/02/28/kansas-agrees-new-mail-ballot-restrictions-are-unconstitutional-will-pay-legal-fees/

Kansas House advances constitutional amendment requiring elected sheriffs

by Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — Rep. Eric Smith encouraged House members Tuesday to support a constitutional amendment requiring counties to elect sheriffs, rather than risk the possibility of a county commission gaining authority to appoint the position.

Smith, a Republican from Burlington who said his “real job” as a deputy sheriff for Coffee County supports his political hobby, joined other supporters of the proposal in arguing it is important to shield top law enforcement officers from the scrutiny of other elected officials.

“I just want want you to consider the idea that when you have an elected sheriff out there, that individual serves you and serves your constituents as an individual who has to uphold those values that they were elected on, and you can hold them accountable for that,” Smith said.

The House advanced the constitutional amendment on a voice vote. If two-thirds of the members of both the House and Senate approve the resolution, voters will get to decide the issue in November. In additional to requiring counties to elect sheriffs every four years, the amendment specifies that a sheriff can only be removed from office by a recall vote or legal action by the attorney general.

Supporters of the amendment, including Rep. John Resman, a retired deputy sheriff and Republican from Olathe, raised concerns about discussions by the Johnson County Charter Commission as the basis for needing the amendment. Opponents included a Republican and Democratic representative from Riley County, which is served by a countywide police department.

Resman said he was personally involved in investigations in Johnson County that involved city or county government officials who conducted criminal activity and were charged with crimes.

“I think this is extremely important that the people realize or understand that the sheriff has the ultimate authority for investigating these types of crimes,” Resman said. “And there won’t be any interference by bureaucrats or by the county commissioners.”

Rep. Stephanie Clayton, D-Overland Park, said she favored “local control” and a community’s ability to determine the system that works best.

“I don’t generally support the entire state imposing their will on Johnson County,” Clayton said.

Rep. Ken Collins, R-Mulberry, speaking in favor of the elected sheriff requirement, said the position of county sheriff holds a “special place” in the way of life for many Kansans.

“I could go back to my home district and ask someone who their state representative is, and they might know that it’s me,” Collins said. “I could ask someone to name their county commissioners, their mayor or their city officials, and they might or might not know. But ask them to name their sheriff, and I would venture to guess that a majority would give you the correct answer without having to think about it.”

Currently, Riley County is the lone outlier among the state’s 105 counties. The other 104 have a sheriff who is elected.

Rep. Michael Dodson, R-Manhattan, said the county’s unique arrangement saves taxpayers money. There is one jail, one training complex, one emergency response team, one set of mental health specialists, and consolidated dispatch. The police force can send an officer off to a six-month training course because others are available to cover necessary shifts.

Every county should be able to choose the system that works best, Dodson said.

“If a county wishes to have a sheriff, that’s a great choice,” Dodson said. “Likewise, if a county wishes to consolidate, they should be able to do that.”

Rep. Sydney Carlin, D-Manhattan, also opposed the amendment.

Rep. Tatum Lee, R-Ness City, thanked the law enforcement officers who watched the debate from the public gallery. Addressing the gallery violates chamber rules.

“The power should always be with the people. Always, always be with the people,” Lee said. “And the fact that we would try to give some committee in some county board somewhere control of that is just crazy to me.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/02/22/kansas-house-advances-constitutional-amendment-requiring-elected-sheriffs/

Kansas election official urges legislators to avoid restricting drop boxes for advance ballots

by Noah Taborda, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — The Kansas Secretary of State’s Office and voting rights advocates are urging Senate lawmakers to reject a bill banning the use of drop boxes for advance ballots except under certain conditions.

With the pandemic raging, many counties chose to add additional drop boxes to increase ease of voting and maintain social distancing. These estimated 180 additional boxes are the target of many who fear the election could be vulnerable to interference from fraudsters.

Senate Bill 445 would prohibit the use of these boxes unless they are located inside the building of a county election office or satellite voting location. An employee must continuously observe the drop box during times that it is available to the public.

Clay Barker, general counsel for the secretary of state, said the proposed law was redundant as counties already supervise many boxes and that the law would hinder the state if more drop-off points were needed during a disaster.

“If I was doing ballot harvesting, which is now illegal in Kansas, I would not go near a drop box,” Barker said. “What we would like, if the committee wanted to move on drop boxes, is the direct authority to regulate them because right now, they are unregulated in Kansas.”

While they are unregulated, the Secretary of State’s Office has federal guidelines and its own policies helping direct counties on best practices. Policies include the requirement for a bipartisan group to pick up the ballots, the level of the sidewalk, and clearing brush away.

Still, the surveillance applied to these boxes is not uniform, leading to concerns among some legislators.

In 2020, Kansas saw the number of drop boxes increase by more than 180 in large part because of the secretary of state’s offer to purchase two additional boxes for every county. Seventy-nine counties requested two boxes and 12 requested one. Johnson County requested seven. At least eight counties purchased even more drop boxes on their own using federal grants.

Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, R-Galena, pointed out that while the desire may be for all counties to always have a man or a camera on these boxes, this is not the case everywhere. Camera security also cannot prevent the destruction of ballots in real time, only evidence to convict, he said.

“You keep saying these are the most secure because of surveillance but let’s just say they do have surveillance cameras on there, how often are they checked?” Hilderbrand said. “How often do people get to look at them? I can go in and drop 10 ballots off, and if it’s a low resolution, you don’t know if it’s 10 or I could drop 20 off.”

Aileen Berquist, community engagement manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, countered these concerns by reminding legislators there is no indication in Kansas that ballot drop boxes have or will be the subject of tampering. Reports from other states do not consider the verification process in Kansas, she said.

“We see this bill as a solution to a problem that is being manufactured,” Berquist said. “Ballot boxes provide much needed flexibility to voters in a busy modern world and that flexibility has been even more crucial to our civic engagement during a worldwide pandemic.”

Kansans must first request a ballot where they enter their driver’s license number and their signature, later checked by the election office, and then it must be taken to a box that is usually under surveillance, said Davis Hammet, of the election reform organization Loud Light. He said the vague writing of the bill could open the state up to litigation.

“There’s a whole chain of custody process for these ballots,” Hammet said. “The drop boxes might be actually one of the most secure ways to do this.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/02/18/kansas-election-official-urges-legislators-to-avoid-complicating-advance-ballot-drop-off/