Claims of Johnson County election fraud based on partial, out-of-context information
As conspiracy theories undermining the 2020 presidential election continue to circulate, new claims of misconduct around Johnson County’s balloting have surfaced.
In recent presentations and appearances, Johnson County resident Thad Snider has called for the decertification of the county’s November 2021 general election, which included local races.
His case involves allegations of mishandled ballot paperwork, possibly illegal drop boxes and election canvassers not doing their jobs. He claims that a “preponderance of evidence” shows several election laws have been violated, including fraud by an election officer. Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden is considering information provided by Snider as part of an ongoing investigation into claims of election fraud.
But Snider uses partial and out-of-context information from public records requests to paint a sinister-looking picture. The Star examined a presentation he gave to the Kansas Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee earlier this year and found it includes no evidence of fraud.
Here’s a look at Snider’s major claims about the 2021 Johnson County general election:
Claim: Incomplete ballot transfer documents
“Out of the 113 ballot transfer documents I received in the 2021 election in Johnson County, none had the four signatures required. None. Not one of them”
The reality: Ballot transfer documents are filled out when ballots deposited in drop boxes are moved. Johnson County had eight drop boxes – seven at libraries and one at the election office.
The document has space for four signatures. The forms are used internally to help authorities track ballot movements, but there is no legal or regulatory requirement that they have four signatures or that they be used at all, said Johnson County Election Commissioner Fred Sherman.
Snider asked how the transfer document could be a “legal document.” The answer is it isn’t, according to Sherman.
Bipartisan teams of two collect ballots from drop boxes and place them in a red canvas bag with a security seal, Sherman said. The ballots are brought directly to a processing room where a bipartisan board receives them.
Johnson County has used some form of ballot drop off for decades, Sherman said. In addition, Johnson County accepts ballots sent through the mail and those ballots don’t have a transfer form.
Secretary of State Scott Schwab said that even if there was an administrative error, it doesn’t change or overturn the results of the election.
“Some of them didn’t initial it. But it doesn’t mean the ballots were altered or messed with. It doesn’t mean that any outcomes were changed,” Schwab said in an interview with KCMO Talk Radio host Pete Mundo.
He added that individuals who move ballots take an oath not to tamper with them.
Claim: Illegal drop boxes or chain-of-custody problems
“Either the drop boxes are legal and the chain of custody wasn’t followed or the drop boxes are illegal and they never should have been used in the first place,” Snider said, asserting that he read Kansas law “backwards and forwards” and couldn’t find anywhere that the Legislature approved drop boxes.
He also said the county failed to follow federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommendations on ballot chain of custody for drop boxes.
The reality: While drop boxes drew significant attention in 2020, they have been in use for a number of years and are legal. Kansas law says completed advance ballots shall be mailed “or otherwise transmitted to the county election officer.” That language gives wide latitude to voters and election officials in how ballots are returned.
CISA did produce guidance for the use of drop boxes. The recommendations cited by Snider include: “Chain of custody logs must be completed every time ballots are collected” and that “Team members should sign the log and record the date and time, security seal number at opening, and security seal number when the box is locked and sealed again.”
Sherman said that the county has adjusted its policies related to the transfer forms regularly as it works to abide by best practices.
“They’re basically at best a means of accounting how ballots are moved,” Sherman said, noting that no such accounting exists for ballots mailed through the U.S. Postal Service.
Claim: Board of Canvassers didn’t follow state law in certifying election
The reality: Snider claims that when the Johnson County Board of Canvassers met to certify the election, it didn’t follow state law that requires the board to “inspect” records presented by the election officer, in this case Sherman, the election commissioner.
Sherman said the board did comply with state law.
Some counties, Sherman said, look individually at ballots during canvas. In Johnson County sworn processing board members review signatures and present results to the canvas board, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, which approves them.
The law allows, but does not require, the canvas board to sift through every document.
“The canvas board to a certain extent is like a judge and jury,” Sherman said.
