A deluge of mail ballot applications sent to Kansans from out of state is causing unprecedented work for election officials and confusion for voters.
Here’s what those voters who want to vote by mail need to know, and what they might want to do.
First, understand what the mail ballot application frenzy is all about — besides voters trying to avoid COVID-19 in the important 2020 election.
Literally anyone can send you an application with which you can request an official mail ballot from your county election office. Political parties and campaigns do it, but other entities can do it, too. This year, many thousands of Kansans already have received such unsolicited but legitimate applications for a mail ballot, including from an organization called the Center for Voter Information using a Springfield, Missouri, post office box.
The blanket mailings, while addressed to people by name, are being sent to many voters who have already requested mail ballots on their own. In fact, Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew says 70% of the record 27,000 mail ballot applications voters have sent in there have been duplicates.
In other words, thousands of people who had already requested mail ballots for the November election were fooled into thinking that they needed to re-apply for a mail ballot. They didn’t, and they don’t.
That’s happening all over the state, meaning that election officials have to process thousands and thousands of unnecessary duplicate applications while they’re also processing voter registration forms and gearing up for the start of in-person advance voting Oct. 19.
If you receive one of these third-party applications in the mail, and have already applied to the county for a mail ballot, you don’t need to send in another. Shred it or trash it. Don’t burden county election officials with make-work when they’re certifiably busier than ever before.
Actual ballots go out to voters beginning Oct. 14.
— The Kansas City Star
