Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Voter Registration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee hears bill to allow online obituaries as source to remove deceased voters from rolls
Summary
The Federal and State Affairs Committee heard House Bill 2016, which would add online obituary notices — including funeral-home postings — to the official sources county election officers can use to remove deceased voters from registration lists. Supporters said the change reflects media shifts; no committee vote was taken.
The Federal and State Affairs Committee heard testimony on House Bill 2016, a bill that would add online obituary notices — including notices posted by local funeral homes — to the list of official sources county election officers can use to remove deceased voters from the voter registration books.
Jason (committee staff) told the committee, “House Bill 20 16 amends 1 statute 25 dash 23 16 c,” and that the bill “would be an additional obituary notice source for those county election officials to use in checking and updating the voter registration books.”
The bill’s proponent from the Secretary of State’s office, Brian Kaske, said the secretary “does stand in support of this bill, which expands the authority of county election officers to use not only newspaper obituaries, but online obituary notices through newspapers and through local funeral homes.” He told legislators that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment already sends weekly lists of death certificates to the secretary of state and that the Social Security Administration shares death information less consistently.
Senator Gossage said the change would ease the burden on families: “So what you're busy doing a thousand other things ... I'm really glad now that these things are available online that that could just take care of without you having to worry about it.”
Committee members asked about identity verification when obituaries list common names. Jason and Kaske said county election officers would still be required to verify identity before removing a name and that an obituary without additional identifying information (such as date of birth) would prompt follow-up.
The bill summary notes it passed the Kansas House on final action by a vote of 106 to 13 and, if enacted, “this change will go into effect on July 1.” The committee closed the hearing on HB 2016; committee members indicated it may be suitable for consent calendar consideration but did not take a committee vote during this session.
If advanced by the committee, the bill would add online obituary notices to the statutory list of sources county election officers may consult when removing deceased voters from registration records.
