TOPEKA, Kansas — Just months after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly won a second term, Kansas Republicans have begun floating two bills that would change how the state runs its elections.
If one of the bills had been law last year, it would have led to a runoff election after Kelly eked out a slim victory over Republican Derek Schmidt with a plurality instead of an outright majority of the vote. It would force the top two candidates in a statewide general election race into a two-person showdown if neither got more than 50% of the vote.
The other bill proposes eliminating a three-day grace period for advance mail ballots to be returned and counted. That could cut down some of the votes cast through the mail. Democratic voters use mail-in ballots more often than Republicans.
Patrick Miller, a political scientist at the University of Kansas, said the bills are likely attempts to give Republicans, the dominant political party in the state, an edge.
“Both parties,” Miller said, “like to have laws that favor them and that make winning more likely. Let’s be upfront about that — election laws are political.”
In recent years, Republican lawmakers and voter integrity groups have argued the changes would make elections in Kansas fairer and safer. The proposed bills also follow a nationwide effort from Republican-dominated states to restrict access to voting since then-President Donald Trump pushed unsubstantiated voter fraud claims after he lost the 2020 election.
Democrats and voter turnout groups oppose the bills. State Rep. Brandon Woodard, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Elections, said the proposals make it harder to vote in Kansas and are the result of conspiracies that elections have been stolen.
“This is just another voter suppression effort from folks who believe in the Big Lie (about supposed election fraud),” Woodard said.
Runoff elections
State Rep. Les Mason, a Republican from McPherson, proposed the creation of a runoff election to ensure whoever is elected to a statewide position is supported by a majority of voters.
“Kansans deserve,” Mason said, “to have that confidence in whomever we install in that office that a majority of the public supports them.”
With a runoff election, a candidate would need to earn more than 50% of the vote to be the winner. In the event that a three-way race splits the votes with no candidate winning more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates head to another election.
That would likely be common in races that feature more than two candidates. For instance, the last three elections for governor featured multiple candidates and a winner with less than 50% of the vote.
This past fall, Kelly defeated Schmidt with 49.5% of the vote. Republicans believe Kelly’s victory was boosted by rogue conservative state Sen. Dennis Pyle, who left the GOP to run as an independent candidate. He challenged both Kelly and Schmidt from the right, arguing both are liberals.
Miller said the perception of Pyle taking conservative votes away from the mainstream Republican is likely leading lawmakers to make changes that they believe would favor their party. Additionally, some Republicans believe Kelly’s 2018 victory over Republican Kris Kobach benefitted from Greg Orman’s independent bid that year.
