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Minutes for SB209 - Committee on Federal and State Affairs
Short Title
Requiring all advance voting ballots be returned by 7 p.m. on election day.
Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 16, 2023
Jason Long gave an overview of the bill. Explained current process. SB209 would remove the current three day post election period for receiving advanced ballots by the county election office. All advance voting ballots must be received by the county election office by the close of the polls on the day of the election. The bill would become effective on July 1, 2023 if enacted. (Attachment 6)
The Chairman called for oral proponent testimony:
Proponent oral testimony
Madeline Malisa, Visiting Fellow, Opportunity Solutions Project, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated allowing ballots to be received and counted for three days after the election is problematic for three reasons: 1. It allows doubt to be sowed, and threatens fast and accurate ballot counting and timely election results. 2. It undermines voter confidence in the outcome, especially in cases where a close race suddenly flips after election day. 3. Creating a deadline other than Election Day causes confusion and can lead voters to misunderstand the deadline for their ballots to count. (Attachment 7)
Carol Daunis, precinct committeewoman in Johnson County, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated, "It's a slippery slope to allow ballots to come in for three days post election because it could get pushed to four days, then a week, and before you know it, we could be waiting a month after the election to get results." (Attachment 8)
Proponents providing written testimony
Kris Kobach, Kansas Attorney General (Attachment 9)
Brett Anderson, private citizen (Attachment 10)
Roberta Bretz, private citizen (Attachment 11)
Mike Brown, Chairman, Kansas Republican Party (Attachment 12)
Debbie Detmer, private citizen (Attachment 13)
Michelle Eagleman, private citizen (Attachment 14)
Julie Edmondson, private citizen (Attachment 15)
Keith Esau, private citizen (Attachment 16)
Pam Gieseke-Becker, private citizen (Attachment 17)
Seth Graber, private citizen (Attachment 18)
Will Hoerl, private citizen (Attachment 19)
Rita Hoffman, private citizen (Attachment 20)
Natalie Horspool, private citizen (Attachment 21)
Peggy Mast, private citizen (Attachment 22)
Timothy McCabe, private citizen (Attachment 23)
Hannah Mingucci, private citizen (Attachment 24)
Jill O'Connor, private citizen (Attachment 25)
Richard Shupe, private citizen (Attachment 26)
Steve Snitz, private citizen (Attachment 27)
Ann Spitz, private citizen (Attachment 28)
Mary Stang, private citizen (Attachment 29)
Kari Vosburgh, private citizen (Attachment 30)
Neutral oral testimony
Clay Barker, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, General Counsel, spoke as neutral on the bill. He gave a brief history of the current law allowing the three day grace period, and stated voters are required to submit a request for an advance by mail ballot before every election. When returned, the ballots must be postmarked by 7:00 pm on Election Day to be counted. He could not provide a precise number of ballots that were received in 2022 during the three day grace period, but estimated it was about 3,500. Although the SOS is neutral on the bill, they request ballot drop boxes remain widely available to voters. (Attachment 31)
Opponent Oral Testimony
Mike Burgess, Director of Policy and Outreach, Disability Rights Center for Law and Justice, spoke as an opponent of the bill. He stated the extra three days has been very helpful for many Kansans with disabilities who face additional barriers, and they would be amongst the voters who could be negatively impacted by the change in this bill. (Attachment 32)
Davis Hammet, Loud Light Civic Action, spoke as an opponent of the bill. He stated this bill doesn't improve election security nor make elections more accessible. He said the result of the bill would be to punish Kansas voters because of mail delivery shortcomings, and there is already a crime in statute for backdating or otherwise altering a postmark on an advance ballot. (Attachment 33)
Caleb Smith, Campaign Director, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, spoke as an opponent of the bill. He stated, "It's mostly an empty gesture, and it only serves to disenfranchise voters." He said the three day grace period is more important now than ever, since mail in ballots are being processed out of state, even when the voter is mailing their ballot to an election office within their own community. (Attachment 34)
Erin Woods, private citizen, spoke as an opponent of the bill. She stated this would disenfranchise many college voters. She said they have problems with mail delays in-going and outgoing, typos in addresses, addresses with signatures, and other problems. She suggested Kansas should be doing a better job of educating the public on the election process. (Attachment 35)
Written Only Opponent Testimony
Jennifer Ancell, private citizen (Attachment 36)
Aileen Berquist, Policy Director, American Civil Liberties Union, Kansas (Attachment 37)
Alice Capson, private citizen (Attachment 38)
Chloe Chaffin, private citizen (Attachment 39)
Jay Hall, Deputy Director and General Counsel, Kansas Association of Counties (Attachment 40)
LeAnna Herrmann, private citizen (Attachment 41)
Amy Hill, private citizen (Attachment 42)
Sandra Katz-Sherry, private citizen (Attachment 43)
Cille King, Advocacy Chair, League of Women Voters Kansas (Attachment 44)
Stacey Knoell, Executive Director, Kansas African American Affairs Commission (Attachment 45)
Rev. Jeanne Koontz, private citizen (Attachment 46)
Ann Mah, private citizen (Attachment 47)
Leslie Mark, private citizen (Attachment 48)
Lauren Tice Miller, Director of Government Relations and Elections, Kansas National Education Association (Attachment 49)
Rick Piepho, Harvey County Clerk and Election Officer; Chairman, Kansas County Clerks and Election Officials (Attachment 50
Micheal Poppa, Executive Director, Mainstream Coalition (Attachment 51)
Paris Raite, private citizen (Attachment 52)
Jonathan Smith, private citizen (Attachment 53)
Melissa Stiehler, private citizen (Attachment 54)
After a period of questions and answers, the Chairman closed the hearing on SB209.
The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 11:31 am.
