After 1,000 late ballots didn’t count, Johnson County reminds voters of new rules

The Johnson County Election Office is developing a new voter outreach and education plan for midterm elections later this year thanks to a new state law that shrinks voters’ window to turn ballots in.

The new push — mainly to encourage the use of ballot drop boxes, mailing ballots early and in-person drop-offs — comes shortly after 1,000 ballots weren’t able to be counted in a March special election.

That special election was mail-in ballots only, and the rules requiring such ballots be returned by Election Day have been in place for years.

But voters used to have more wiggle room for primary and general elections in Kansas.

Since 2017, Kansas voters could send their ballot by mail and still have them counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day and were received within a following three-day grace period.

That’s no longer the case.

Senate Bill 4, the new Kansas law that passed last year, effectively ends the grace period, requiring all ballots to be returned by 7 p.m. on Election Day, even in primary and general elections. That means any ballots that arrive at the election office after that time are not counted.

This change leaves Kansas with one of the shortest mail-in voting periods in the country, the Associated Press reports.

“Our office will be reminding voters who choose to vote in advance by mail that they have two options for returning their voted ballot: (1) Through the postal system; or (2) Utilizing an official Election Office drop box,” Johnson County Election Commissioner Connie Schmidt wrote in a statement.

The Election Office’s prep work comes after three Johnson County jurisdictions held special elections with mail-in ballots only at the beginning of March, during which more than 1,000 ballots were turned in too late to be counted.

While it’s a small margin of voters, the Election Office and Board of County Commissioners want to emphasize the law change as Kansas enters an election year.

“It’s heartbreaking to have folks exercise their democratic right to vote and not have their vote counted,” 3rd District Commissioner Julie Brewer said at the end of the Commissioner’s meeting last week. “Bills and prohibitions to decrease voter turnout further are not in the spirit of democracy, for every vote counts.”

The breakdown

Olathe and De Soto school districts placed school bond measures and the city of Edgerton placed a sales tax on the ballot. Olathe’s $389 million bond’s final results showed that more than 15,000 voters supported the measure and more than 8,000 voters were against the measure, according to official results.

It’s unclear where the 1,008 late ballots would have counted in the election, but it could’ve made a difference in margins and in Edgerton’s case, possibly the outcome.

De Soto’s $99.85 million school bond saw 4,089 people vote in favor and 2,458 vote against the measure. Edgerton’s 1% sales tax saw a narrow margin, with 98 ballots supporting it and 89 ballots against it.

“I have reviewed data from the past five ‘all mail-in ballot elections,’” Schmidt said. “The number of ballots returned too late through the postal system averages less than 1% of ballots mailed.”

But Johnson County doesn’t want their voters to miss their chance to cast their ballots this year.

“Voters choosing the postal system will be encouraged to mail their voted ballot no later than one week before Election Day.”

The county will have 16 dropboxes available, and voters can drop their mail ballot to any in-person advance voting location or any Election Day polling place, she said.

Johnson County will have a primary election on Aug. 4 and its general election on Nov. 3 — the first time voters will cast their ballots with the new law change in effect. Visit jocoelection.org for more information.