On the ballot for the Nov. 8 general election will be the name of Chris Johnston, a Democrat from rural Ottawa who earlier this year had filed to run for the state Senate, representing our 12th District, now occupied by Caryn Tyson, a Republican from Parker.
By mid-June, Johnston pulled out of the race citing “personal reasons.”
A new state law prevents Johnston’s name from being removed from the Nov. 8 ballot, which will not be printed until some time in September.
Passed in 2015, state law now reads that any candidate’s name still on file as of the June 1 filing deadline will go on the Nov. 8 ballot. The only exceptions: Those who have died, are severely ill to the point they cannot perform the job, or those who have moved out of state.
On Monday, Carla Griffith, also from Ottawa, announced her intention to run against Sen. Tyson, but because of our new election law, Griffith must run as a write-in candidate, all but guaranteeing her defeat.
Both Johnston and Griffith’s situations are evidence our new election laws hinder the election process.
Come Election Day, Allen County voters will receive a ballot with misinformation.
THE CHANGE in Kansas’s election laws came about because of the 2014 race for the U.S. Senate that pitted Republican incumbent Pat Roberts against Chad Taylor, Democrat, Greg Orman, an Independent, and Randall Baston, the Libertarian candidate.
Taylor withdrew from the race on Sept. 13, 2014, providing Orman, particularly, a credible chance at beating Roberts.
Fearing such consequences, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Taylor’s name must remain on the ballot unless he could provide proof that he would be unable to perform the duties of office if elected. Merely opting to withdraw from the race was not acceptable, Kobach said.
When the case came before the Kansas Supreme Court, the justices allowed Taylor’s name to be ommitted from the yet-to-be printed ballots.
Though Sen. Roberts was easily re-elected, the experience left a bad taste in the mouth of Kobach.
At the very next session of the Kansas Legislature Kobach persuaded legislators to change the state’s election laws that give us today’s intractable system.
For an election chief, Kobach certainly has a cockeyed view of what makes for a fair election.
