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Minutes for HB2057 - Committee on Elections

Short Title

Regulating the use of remote ballot boxes for the return of advance voting ballots.

Minutes Content for Tue, Jan 31, 2023

Chairperson Proctor opened the hearing on HB 2057 and recognized Assistant Revisor, Mike Heim, Office of Revisor of Statutes, to give an overview of the bill.  Following the overview, the Revisor answered questions.

Appearing via WebEx as a proponent for HB 2057 was Madeline Malisa, Visiting Fellow, Opportunity Solutions Project.  She stated specifically, that the bill will require that remote ballot boxes are uniformly distributed and equally accessible to Kansas voters. (Attachment 1)

Committee members posed questions to Ms. Malisa and in return, received answers.

The following conferees were introduced by Chairperson Proctor to give opponent testimony on HB 2057:

Clay Barker, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, General Counsel, indicated that HB 2057, in its current form, would add an unfunded mandate to county election officials by regulating the number of, and standardizing operating hours for, ballot drop boxes. (Attachment 2),  Drop Box Information Sheet (Attachment 3)

Mike Taylor, Kansas County Commissioners Association, opposed HB 2057 because he stated it will disenfranchise thousands of Kansas voters who depend on easily accessible drop boxes to cast their legal votes and add unneeded expense to counties and their taxpayers. (Attachment 4)

Rick Piepho, Election Committee Chair, Kansas County Clerks and Election Officials Association, submitted testimony on behalf of the KCCEOA membership.  It is their belief that drop boxes for depositing advance ballots are an important tool for voters to ensure that their ballots are received by the election office.  With delivery delays by the US Postal Service expected to continue, allowing ballots to be deposited in a secure drop box prior to the close of polls on Election Day is a good option for voters to return their ballots. (Attachment 5)

Cille King, Advocacy Chair, League of Women Voters of Kansas, stated the League believes that limiting ballot boxes to one per 30,000 voters, only available during office hours, requiring facial video, and video kept for a year are all unnecessary restrictions for the use of a ballot box. (Attachment 6)

Melissa Stiehler, Topeka resident, mentioned that advanced ballot drop boxes play an important role in our early voting process so casting a ballot is accessible to voters regardless of what part of the community they live in, what their schedule is like, or what their access to transportation is. (Attachment 7)

Stacey Knoell, Executive Director, Kansas African American Affairs Commission, informed the Committee that HB 2057 specifies that the only allowable ballot box "shall be located inside the {county election office} premises and shall be continuously observed by an employee of the county" essentially during business hours. (Attachment 8)

Caleb Smith, Inclusive Campaign Director, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, noted that advance ballots make it easier for more people to exercise their right to vote. (Attachment 9)

Paris Raite, Lawrence resident, is opposed to HB 2057 because of accessibility issues. (Attachment 10)

Mike Burgess, Director of Policy & Outreach, Disability Rights Center of Kansas, offered that the DRC is not supportive of policy changes that will limit options or make it more difficult for Kansans with disabilities to either vote or have their vote counted. (Attachment 11)

Davis Hammet, Loud Light Civic Action, stated that any bill that has the potential to increase the burden on a citizen casting a ballot or reduces the likelihood of their vote being counted should be treated with extreme caution. (Attachment 12)

Opposing via WebEx was Rija Nazir, Wichita resident and recent graduate of Wichita State University, who has seen firsthand how all communities, including students, benefit from the accessibility of a ballot drop box. (Attachment 13)

Questions were asked by Committee members and answered by the conferees.

Written-only opponents for HB 2057 were:

There were no other proponents, opponents, or neutrals.

Chairperson Proctor thanked the conferees for their testimony and closed the hearing on HB 2057.