Controversy fills Johnson County’s election office. Does the system need an overhaul?
Johnson County’s most recent election commissioner abruptly resigned and left behind a string of lawsuits and concerns over delayed vote counts and troublesome technology.
The commissioner before him left the county with a battle over severance pay and a scandal that caused many to question the office’s leadership.
Now as the search lingers on to replace Ronnie Metsker, who left in December, some local officials and state legislators are calling for change. They argue the process of appointing the commissioner in Kansas’ most populous county leads to partisan influence and little local oversight. And they question whether the process hinders the ability to find qualified candidates.
Many said the system neglects the voices of the taxpayers, who largely foot the bill for the election office, but have no say in who leads it.
“We hold the purse strings over the election office,” Johnson County Commissioner Becky Fast said. “The Johnson County election commissioner and staff are county employees, using county tax dollars. I think that means we should have more say.”
In all but four of Kansas’ counties, voters elect a county clerk to oversee elections. But in Johnson County and the state’s three other most populous counties (Wyandotte, Sedgwick and Shawnee), the secretary of state appoints an election commissioner to a four-year term.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s office collected applications until Friday. Now a six-member committee of Johnson County and state leaders will interview candidates. And Kansas’ Aug. 4 primary is fast approaching. (The May 2 presidential primary in Kansas is run by the state Democratic Party.)
All of the local officials interviewed by The Star said they have confidence in Schwab to fill the position, and many said they were reassured that he is involving county leaders. But Metsker’s abrupt resignation and recent controversies have reignited demands to overhaul the state’s system.
But what a new system should look like depends on whom you ask.
Concerns about partisan influence
Elected officials disagree on whether the problems that stemmed from the terms of both Metsker and former election commissioner Brian Newby are symptoms of the appointment process.
But some voters have questioned whether partisan influence surrounds the election office, especially after an all-night delay in primary election results in 2018. That night, Metsker spoke twice on the phone with then-Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who appointed him and was also running for governor in that primary.
Some said the phone calls were to be expected, given Kobach’s responsibility to report the statewide vote totals. And many Johnson County leaders defended Metsker’s integrity.
Metsker blamed the delay on computer problems with the new $10.5 million election machines. The problems were preceded by delays in November 2016 election results, when officials attributed the issue to outdated machines.
Metsker, a former chair of the Johnson County Republican Party, also came under fire during the subsequent recount of the GOP primary in the gubernatorial race between former Gov. Jeff Colyer and Kobach. Before conceding the election, Colyer’s attorneys sent the county a letter demanding 150 ballots be counted that were thrown out because the signature did not match the voter’s registration record.
Schwab declined to be interviewed during the appointment process for a new commissioner. But he provided a statement about Metsker: “Under his management, the Johnson County Election Office oversaw a new era of election administration with modern technology and the implementation of a new voting system. We are grateful for his service and leadership and wish him well on his future endeavors.”
Some local officials and legislators calling for changes to the appointment process argue the current system leads to partisanship.
“We have one statewide elected official having this power to choose our election commissioners. I don’t find it to be representative,” said state Rep. Stephanie Clayton, of Overland Park, who ran as a Republican but later switched parties to become a Democrat. “It shouldn’t be a politicized position. It should be as neutral as possible.”
Johnson County Commissioner Michael Aschraft, on the other hand, said he has yet to find a reason to change the current system.
“People bring up that changing the appointment process or having an election, that it’ll somehow get better. But when it’s handled locally without that separation of powers and arm’s-length relationship, there could be a lot of problems,” Ashcraft said. “I’m not saying it would be in Johnson County or has been in Kansas. But look nationally, that is a constant problem with political influences, suspicions and accusations in those systems.”
But Greg Shelton, vice chair of Johnson County Democrats, said he would like to see voters elect the commissioner, similar to how the process works in the majority of Kansas counties.
“In this recent election, we saw here that Scott Schwab didn’t win Johnson County. I don’t think that’s a reflection on his ability to choose a good candidate for the position, but it is incongruent with what voters here want,” Shelton said.
In November 2018, Schwab lost in Johnson County by a thin margin, securing 48% of the votes for secretary of state. Democrat Brian McClendon won the county with 48.5%.
“We care most about our voters having the opportunity to show up on election day and choose the person they think would best represent them, and election commissioner is no different,” Shelton said.
Clayton does not believe voters should choose the election commissioner, saying candidates would run on party lines and further politicize the position.
Some Johnson County officials proposed the position be elected by the Board of Commissioners or a committee of residents and leaders.
“This person has to have a strong interpersonal relationship with all levels of elected officials and the general public,” Fast said. “With the position being more partisan during the previous secretary of state, we really need this understanding of how our local county works.”
Chairman Ed Eilert said he would be open to the county commission appointing the election office leader, but added: “Folks are concerned about the politics of the appointment, and I’m not sure how you avoid that completely regardless of what process you have.”
Push for local oversight
Even with Metsker out of office, a lawsuit continues in which he is named a defendant. The Johnson County Election Office will be deposed in the suit, filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU argued a Kansas law providing a 250-foot “buffer zone” to ban electioneering near polling places allowed Metsker to enforce a policy unconstitutionally banning all political speech in those areas. Metsker was also named as a defendant in a lawsuit the ACLU filed in September 2018, demanding his office release the names of voters whose ballots were rejected based on signatures.
Metsker did not return calls for comment.
Meanwhile, the county has been in a legal battle over severance pay with Newby, who resigned as election commissioner after accepting a position as the executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in 2015. In late December, a judge ruled Johnson County was under no legal obligation to pay Newby for accrued vacation and sick leave during his term.
Newby, who took the helm of the election office in 2005, left behind a scandal in Johnson County after emails revealed he created a toxic workplace, berated employees and was not held accountable for lavish expenses.
Newby’s term led Johnson County officials to push for more control over the office. Since then, the county has gained authority over the election office’s annual budget, and requires staff to abide by the government’s personnel policies.
But balancing oversight of the election office is still a battle local officials are fighting.
“If the election commissioner were a county employee and were selected as we select an appraiser and treasurer, there would be a lot more oversight and a lot more efficiencies within the county structure,” Johnson County Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick said. “The commission would not get involved in anything that would be inappropriate, but we would have some say over how our county wants our elections held.”
Many county leaders emphasized how challenging the role of election commissioner is. They’re seeking someone who has a background in management, IT, cyber security and voting laws.
Some are pushing for the secretary of state’s office to change its policy requiring applicants to have lived in the county for at least two years.
“It seems to me that going forward, we should have the ability to recruit outside of the county. There may be someone in the western part of our state who is highly qualified to fill this kind of position,” Eilert said. “In hiring the county manager or deputy administrator, we can do a national search to recruit excellent people.”
Officials interviewed aren’t holding out hope that any changes will be made to the appointment process this legislative session. But they are optimistic because of the approach Schwab is taking to fill the position in the meantime.
“I think with any administration, they bring in new people. But I think Schwab is taking a hybrid approach,” Fast said. “Before, the county didn’t have much of a say. The past secretary of state was very strong on who he wanted. But I don’t see that with Schwab. Right from the start, it’s been collaborative.”
Johnson County and state leaders said they’re focused on finding the most qualified candidate as soon as possible.
“We haven’t put a timeline on it yet,” said Katie Koupal, a spokeswoman in the secretary of state’s office. “But given it’s a major election year, we aren’t letting the grass grow under our feet.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
