Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Election Legislation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee on Elections introduces slate of bills on ballot boxes, vacancies, voter rolls and noncitizen screening
Summary
The Committee on Elections introduced multiple bills addressing ballot-box rules, vacancy appointments, special-election timing, poll-worker residency, rules for removing deceased registrants and a DMV–Secretary of State data-sharing proposal to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.
The Committee on Elections on Jan. 3 introduced a package of election-related draft bills covering ballot-box regulations, vacancy appointments, special-election timing, poll-worker residency, voter-roll maintenance and a Department of Motor Vehicles–Secretary of State data-sharing measure to identify noncitizens for potential removal from voter rolls.
Chair (Committee on Elections) said the bills would be introduced by the committee after no member objected. “Are there any objections to these bills being introduced? Okay. Seeing none, they’ll be introduced by the committee,” the chair said.
The measures listed during the meeting included: RS 0228, which would give the Secretary of State authority to regulate advanced voting ballot boxes; RS 0364 on county commissions appointing county elected officials when a vacancy exists and there is no candidate; RS 0367 on timing of special elections; RS 0268 on permitting military personnel to serve as poll workers even if they are not residents of the district; RS 0114 addressing a candidate seeking nomination by another party after having accepted a party’s nomination; RS 0122 to remove the three-day postselection period for returning mailed advance voting ballots; RS 0158 to allow a private online obituary published by a funeral home to provide grounds for removing a deceased registrant from voter rolls; and RS 0117 (listed as RS o117 in the transcript) to create the election crime of interference with an election official.
Committee members also introduced RS 0410, described as a bill to create a mechanism for the Department of Motor Vehicles to communicate with the Secretary of State’s office to identify and remove noncitizens from voter registration lists. The chair said the committee would consider RS 0410 next week.
At the end of the meeting the chair previewed the committee’s upcoming schedule and said members should expect to hear from Secretary of State Scott Schwab later in the week and to consider a proposed constitutional amendment to clarify that only U.S. citizens may vote in Kansas.
No formal votes were recorded on the measures during this meeting; members introduced the bills and the committee scheduled hearings.
Upcoming schedule: the chair said RS 0410 (DMV–Secretary of State data-sharing) was likely to be heard Tuesday, and a proposed constitutional amendment about citizen-only voting on Thursday. The chair encouraged interested parties to prepare to testify at those hearings.
