Brief (1)
HB 2328 amends the state election laws by requiring a signed application for an advance voting ballot to be transmitted by personal delivery, mail, facsimile, or as otherwise provided by law, only to the county election officer and by requiring anyone engaged in the distribution of advance voting ballot applications to mail, facsimile, or transmit as provided by law an application to the county election office within 48 hours after the applicant signed the application. The bill also prohibits any person engaged in the distribution of advanced voting ballot applications from mailing or delivering signed applications to any place other than the county election office. Other amendments in the bill are technical in nature.
The effective date of the act would be on its publication in the Kansas Register.
Background
The Johnson County Election Commissioner and the Lyon County Clerk testified in support of the bill. They stated that prior to the 1998 election, organizations mailed out large quantities of applications for advance mail ballots with return addresses to these organizations. Once the organization received the signed applications, information from the applications was entered into a database prior to the applications being sent to the county election office. The conferees voiced concern that such delay of the transmission of these applications to the county election office could result in voters not receiving their ballot. They testified that passage of HB 2328 would protect against such problems.
The House Committee on Governmental Organization and Elections amended the bill by clarifying that signed applications must be returned to the county election officer. The Committee also amended the bill to clarify that the restriction would apply regardless of how the application is transmitted to the election officer.
The House Committee of the Whole amended the bill by allowing the signed applications to be transmitted to the county election officer by personal delivery, mail, or facsimile.
The Senate Committee on Elections and Local Government amended the bill to require delivery of an application to the county election officer within 48 hours of signing. The Committee also made the enactment of the bill upon its publication in the Kansas Register.
The Senate Committee of the Whole amended the bill by clarifying the Senate Committee language.
1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html