Kansas House, Senate advance proposals to limit drop boxes, mail-in voting
Using arguments based on unfounded claims of voter fraud, Kansas lawmakers advanced legislation Thursday aimed at banning remote drop boxes and limiting mail-in voting.
Former President Donald Trump has spread conspiracy theories for three years since losing the 2020 election, fueling a push by Republicans for more restrictive voting laws in Kansas and other states.
The impact was clear Thursday as the Kansas Senate voted 21 to 19 to ban drop boxes if they are not physically inside an election office and 23 to 17 to require mail-in ballots arrive at the election office by 7 p.m. on Election Day. The Kansas House voted 77 to 45 to require mail in ballots arrive by election day but stayed out of the fray on ballot boxes scheduling debate instead on a bill to give the Secretary of State authority to regulate them.
The Senate drop box bill originally limited the number of drop boxes based on population. Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican, amended it to eliminate all drop boxes outside election offices.
All three bills fell short of a veto-proof majority. Though Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly hasn’t commented on the legislation, she vetoed election bills in 2021 that made smaller changes to the state’s laws.
According to Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican, there were 167 ballot drop boxes used statewide last year. The office estimated roughly 1,000 ballots arrived in the 3 day grace period after the election day last year.
Schwab has stayed neutral on the grace period while arguing against bills limiting drop boxes, while Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican and former secretary of state, has argued in favor of both.
Republican proponents of the legislation have argued they are necessary to reinstill faith in Kansas elections even as the state’s Republican secretary of state has repeatedly said there is no evidence of widespread fraud in the state.
“It’s about voter confidence, it’s about removing ambiguity,” Rep. Leah Howell, a Wichita Republican, said of the bill removing the three-day grace period.
Speaking in support of the mail-in voting bill, Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, said voting was a privilege, not a right.
“It is their privilege to vote and therefore they need to make sure that they can accommodate the process so they can get it done,” he said.
Democrats have argued both bills needlessly make it more difficult for Kansans to vote.
“This bill would punish people who are doing everything right,” said Sen. Cindy Holsher, an Overland Park Democrat.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said the focus on election policy will only decrease trust in elections.
“By passing this we are putting more concern that our elections are not valid and that there is concern,” she said.
Tyson amended legislation limiting drop boxes to remove them entirely, arguing the move would ensure fraud would not occur.
“It prioritizes integrity over convenience,” she said. Tyson pursued a recount last year after losing a close race in the Republican primary for state treasurer.
But the bill is certain to run up against barriers in the Kansas House where lawmakers were scheduled to hold a debate Thursday on a bill to give Schwab authority over drop boxes rather than regulate them themselves.
Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican who chairs the House Elections Committee, said he had opted to move the regulatory bill forward because he wasn’t sure more severe action would have the necessary votes to override a gubernatorial veto.
“There’s a kind of wide array of feelings about ballot drop boxes,” Proctor said of the House chamber.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
