Kansas Legislators Should Not Try To ‘Fix’ Election Laws

By Connie Schmidt, Kansas Reflector

March 11, 2021

The Kansas Reflector welcomes opinion pieces from writers who share our goal of widening the conversation about how public policies affect the day-to-day lives of people throughout our state. Connie Schmidt served as election commissioner for Johnson County from 1995-2004 and from February 2020-January 2021.

As a lifelong resident of Johnson County, Kansas, with a career in local government spanning 45 years, for me it has always been about serving the public. I spent the first 20 years as the city clerk in Merriam, a small city in the Greater Kansas City Metro. Everyone on our small staff wore a different hat every hour of every day of the week. My time at City Hall created my love for public service — that connection to the people quickly became not a job — but something that I loved!

It was also my first exposure to elections and voter registration. City Hall stayed open until 9 p.m. for several weeks before the deadline. Voters registered in person, with each staff member sworn in as a deputy registrar. Our office also managed all candidate filings for mayor and city council, which were forwarded onto the county election office.

In 1995, I began my career as Johnson County election commissioner. I knew I was where I was meant to be, once again serving the public and managing elections. If you love democracy, you will love elections! The job is difficult to simply walk away from, so in 2005, post-retirement, I formed my own election consulting business and spent the next 15 years providing services to local, state and federal election agencies. I learned how elections are managed in the states of Washington, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Delaware, Virginia, California, the District of Columbia and elsewhere.

With that broad election knowledge, I found myself back once again serving as Johnson County’s election commissioner in 2020, managing a presidential election in the midst of a pandemic.

I describe myself as a perfectionist and a control freak, and I am not a gambler. These characteristics have served me well. It’s the details that keep us awake during every cycle. In preparation for the unknown, election administrators nationwide always have a Plan A, Plan B, and sometimes a Plan C ready to put into action. Our deadlines simply can’t be changed and every voter must have a good experience or they may never return to vote again.

From 1995-2005, election administration was a task of managing perpetual change. Beginning with the National Voter Registration Act, provisional ballots and “no-excuse” advance voting in 1996 to the Help America Vote Act in 2002, elections today barely resemble elections in the early 1990s.

Change is stressful in election offices. Every detail must be implemented precisely, from the statewide voter registration software, to the internal operations of the office, to all of the details required to open polling places on Election Day, to training and deploying more than 2,500 poll workers. Changes in law must be considered carefully, recognizing that poll workers often only work one day a year — and changing the rules every year can quickly equal disruption on Election Day.

In the presidential election of 2020 — with the pandemic changing voter trends daily and election administrators racing to fill the cracks in our solid foundation and keep the process moving forward seamlessly — Kansas was a shining example of how to do it right.

Our state was ready. We already had no-excuse advance voting, in person or by mail. Since 1996, our voters have been able to choose how they want to vote — and they can change their mind for every election if they want. Other legislation passed in 1996 allowed returned voted mail ballots to be verified and processed, and ballot images electronically stored, as they are received at the election office.

Again, Kansas was ready for the tsunami of mail ballots in 2020. Our foundation was solidly in place.

Kansas law now provides the ability for mail ballots received by Friday after Election Day, with an Election Day postmark, to be counted. In Johnson County, Kansas, our office accepted and counted 3,625 mail ballots thanks to this law.

If it works, please don’t change it!

Often, new laws are put in place that aren’t easy to enforce. The Kansas Legislature is currently considering three laws, HB2054, HB2319 and HB2333, which would dictate how a voter can return their mail ballot. Our office works diligently to educate voters to control their voted mail ballot — to value it just like cash money, exercising care in how they return it to the election office. Changes in laws regarding the return of mail ballots should be evaluated from an enforcement standpoint prior to adoption.

It is the administrators and their staff — in the trenches — who know the weaknesses and the strengths of this incredible foundation of democracy. We must be at the table for any debriefings or discussions about how to “fix” things.

Yes, elections are conducted in a political arena, but election administration must never become a political football. We must avoid any perception that laws are created to serve one party over another. It’s our job to maintain integrity and trust in the process. We must work hard to keep democracy on a solid foundation into the future.

Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.