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Minutes for SB210 - Committee on Federal and State Affairs
Short Title
Allowing nonpartisan candidates for office to include such candidate's political party affiliation on the ballot with the candidate's name.
Minutes Content for Mon, Feb 20, 2023
Jason Long, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. He explained the bill concerns elections, and amends one statute regarding information on ballots. In a partisan election, the statute language states that party affiliation is to be listed. SB210 adds language to the statute to allow a candidate's political party to be listed on nonpartisan elections, but does not require it.
The Chairman called for oral proponent testimony.
Proponent Oral Testimony
Dennis Hull, Americans for Tax Reform, spoke as a proponent of a bill. He stated the bill would provide more transparency for voters to evaluate candidates for school boards, townships, and city councils who have the authority to raise their taxes. He said maximizing the amount of information is crucial to make sure voters know where a candidate truly stands, and the trajectory budgets take can be affected by party ideology. (Attachment 39)
Adam Peters, Ellis County Republican Party Chair, spoke as a proponent of the bill. He stated people want to know what they are getting, and there should be no guessing games about who people are, and what they stand for. He said giving the electorate more information about who is running could increase interest and turnout in local elections. (Attachment 40)
Written Proponent Testimony
Brett Anderson, private citizen (Attachment 41)
Debbie Detmer, private citizen (Attachment 42)
Natalie Horspool, private citizen (Attachment 43)
John Ims, private citizen (Attachment 44)
Carisa McMullen, private citizen (Attachment 45)
Jill O'Connor, private citizen (Attachment 46)
Rita Hoffman, private citizen (Attachment 47)
Peggy Mast, private citizen (Attachment 48)
Steve Snitz, private citizen (see attachment 14 for combined testimony)
Neutral Oral Testimony
Clay Barker, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, stated the Secretary of State's Office is neutral on the bill, but have three questions regarding the implementation of the bill:
- Would an unaffiliated candidate be able to have the term "unaffiliated" on the ballot?
- Would the broader term "independent" be permitted?
- Is the county election officer responsible for verifying the party affiliation asserted by the candidate? (Attachment 49)
Neutral Written Only Testimony
Caleb Smith, Kansas Appleseed (Attachment 50)
Oral Opponent Testimony
Davis Hammet, Loud Light Civic Action, spoke as an opponent of the bill. He stated it would take local control away from local communities who want to determine whether their elections are partisan or not, and would activate the Hatch Act's prohibition on federal employees running in partisan races. (Attachment 51)
John Goodyear, General Counsel, League of Kansas Municipalities, spoke as an opponent of the bill. He stated the bill would limit the pool of qualified candidates because they may not want to list their party affiliation, and few decisions that governing bodies make have "partisan underpinnings". (Attachment 52)
Scott Rothschild, Kansas Association of School Boards, spoke as an opponent of the bill. He stated introducing partisan politics would be a harmful distraction from the job of educating children. He said declaring a party would make certain people unable to hold office, and the ones declaring a party could put them at an advantage over people who do not. (Attachment 53)
Michael Poppa, Executive Director, Mainstream Coalition, spoke as an opponent of the bill. He stated candidates can already align with a party without listing it on the ballot, and there is more collaboration among local officials when party is not part of it. (Attachment 54)
The Chairman opened for a period of questions and answers.
Written Only Opponent Testimony
Allen Dinkel, City Manager, City of Junction City (Attachment 55)
Cille King, League of Women Voters (Attachment 56)
Michael Koss, Deputy City Attorney, City of Overland Park (Attachment 57)
Lauren Tice Miller, Kansas National Education Association (Attachment 58)
Amanda Stanley, City Attorney, City of Topeka (Attachment 59)
David Waters, Mayor, City of Westwood (Attachment 60)
Seeing no more questions, the Chairman closed the hearing on SB210.
