TOPEKA — A pair of election bills passed by the Legislature to limit advance voting options and restrict the authority to change election law prompted passionate debate in the Senate and House.
House Bill 2183, opposed by voting rights activists, would restrict the number of advance ballots an individual may deliver on behalf of others to a maximum of 10, loosened from five in negotiations. In addition, the measure would remove the authority of the secretary of state to extend the deadline for receiving mail ballots.
The bill also bans candidates from assisting neighbors, friends or family with their ballots.
Rep. Vic Miller, D-Topeka, questioned Republican efforts to target the practice of so-called ballot harvesting — gathering advanced ballots from voters and delivering them to the election office. He said he often assists those in his community who request help filling out and delivering their ballot.
Earlier this year, Secretary of State Scott Schwab reported no abnormalities in Kansas during the 2020 election. Why then is a bill criminalizing candidates and other citizens for assisting one another necessary, Miller asked.
“For decades we’ve referred to it as ‘get out the vote,’ because in my party, we believe in making it as easy as we can for every individual to cast their constitutional rights,” Miller said. “Now you want to make a criminal out of people like me because people like me don’t sit at home and send out mail asking for people to vote for us.”
Senators passed the bill 27 to 11, and within an hour, the House followed suit, 80 to 42.
These measures come amid a nationwide push by Republican-led legislatures who argue increased election security is needed — after they’ve made unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud. In Kansas, this prompted some Democratic legislators and election advocates to raise concerns about the possible voter suppression such measures could cause.
To counter GOP efforts, the Democratic majority in the U.S. House passed a voting rights package in March which expanded mail-in voting and access to the polls. Republican legislators in Kansas urged the state’s delegation in D.C. to reject these proposed changes.
While Miller has remained skeptical of some provisions included in the federal bill, HR1 or the For the People Act, he said changes to election law should be working to raise — not lower — voter registration and turnout.
Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, R-Galena, championed several of the voting bills proposed in Kansas, including limitations on candidates interacting with the voting process. He said situations like Miller’s are exactly why these measures are needed.
Hilderbrand pointed to procedure and policy regarding voting in person on Election Day.
“I do not believe as a candidate, I can sit (in the voting booth) and help people fill out their ballot or assist with the process of going through the ballot process,” Hilderbrand said. “If we are not allowed in that process that we should not be doing that outside of that arena as well.”
The penalty for violating the proposed advanced ballot delivery provisions was lowered in the conference committee from a felony offense to a class B misdemeanor.
While he praised the intent to secure future elections, Sen. Jeff Pittman, D-Leavenworth, said Kansas lawmakers were going about it the wrong way. He pointed to partisan election officials and dark-money groups funding campaigns as larger issues needing to be addressed.
