Kansas Senate Republicans sank their own election bill drowned by 'anchor' of amendments

Kansas Senate Republicans sank their own election bill by anchoring down what was a simple but controversial change with several additional policies that were even more controversial.

When the Senate took up Senate Bill 365 on Monday, it started as legislation to end the three-day grace period for mailed advance ballots.

By the time senators were done with it, it was a much more sweeping bill to ban ballot drop boxes and ban electronic voting machines, among other provisions. The addition of those more controversial provisions meant Republicans sealed the bill's fate.

It failed to pass the Senate on Tuesday in a 18-22 vote, after a preliminary tally of 16-16 prompted a call of the Senate that forced those passing to either vote yes or no. In addition to not getting a simple majority, the bill was far from the 27 it would have needed to override a likely veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly had the bill passed the Senate and later the House.

In debating one of the many amendments a day earlier, Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, warned his colleagues that they were effectively dooming the original proposal.

"The problem right now is this isn't a vote that's going to secure our election ... it's going to put an anchor around the underlying bill," he said.

The final product, said Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, is "a bill that is extremely problematic, that in its totality is a major voter disenfranchisement bill."

Sen. John Doll, R-Garden City, urged lawmakers to listen to the assurances from Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab, the state's top election official, that Kansas elections are safe and secure. Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, was dismissive, saying "that is their contention."

"Anything the secretary of state or his staff comes to testify on is simply giving us guidance, but it doesn't mean that that is law," said Thompson, who introduced the bill and carried it during floor debate. "We make the law here in the Legislature."

"I don't see why we keep passing laws and more laws and more laws chasing problems that we don't have," Doll said. "Election fraud in Kansas has never been an issue since I can remember."

Senate bill started with ending the three-day grace period

In Kansas, voters can cast advance ballots via the mail. They are counted as long as they are postmarked by election day and arrive to the election office within three business days, a standard referred to as the three-day grace period.

That has been the law since 2017, when it was passed by a near unanimous Legislature. But a majority of Republicans have sought to curtail voting by mail since former President Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 election.

"All we're doing is restoring state law to what it was prior to 2017," Thompson said.

Thompsons said the original intent was to ensure military service members could have their votes counted, but that is no longer an issue because they now have more days to get their ballots in and can vote online. He also said missing postmarks mean "the three-day grace period makes even less sense" now.

But Schwab previously told lawmakers that the reason for the grace period was the closure of most mail processing facilities in Kansas.

In its testimony, the Kansas Secretary of State's Office noted arguments for both sides, but said it was neutral on eliminating the three-day grace period.

However, if legislators end the three-day grace period, they should allow mail ballots to continue to be dropped off at remote ballot boxes, said Clayton Barker, Schwab's general counsel. Schwab separately told senators that mail being routed out of state "is why we're such an advocate of the drop boxes."

Republican senators largely disregarded that advice, with a majority of them backing an amendment by Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, to ban ballot drop boxes. It passed 22-16.

That came even after Thompson indicated in a GOP caucus that a supporting argument for eliminating the three-day grace period was that voters could still use a drop box.

He also cited concerns with mail delays, telling voters who vote by mail "you're disenfranchising yourself by not doing it the right way, by not showing up at the polls." He suggested it would be better to send a ballot by FedEx than mail, and "you can get it done, it depends on how much you want to vote."

Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita, said she was offended by such comments.

"There are people that can't just go to the polls," she said.

Goudeau said that changes in the U.S. Postal Service reinforce that "we need to allow that grace period." The Senate rejected her amendment to try to find a compromise on the grace period by shortening it to two days.

Sweeping amendment will be an 'anchor'

Senators did approve additional amendments, most notably one from Sen. Mark Steffen, R-Hutchinson, to add in the contents of Senate Bill 262. Steffen introduced that bill last year, but it never got a hearing.

The sweeping election bill would require voting by paper ballots, put serial numbers on ballots, require counting of ballots by hand, ban electronic voting and vote tabulation equipment, change how vote counts are reported to the Secretary of State's Office and to the public, and delete reference to the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.

"These are steps towards securing our elections," Steffen said. "Safety, security are foremost; convenience is last."

Several senators took issue with the amendment, including Masterson.

It was not that he didn't support the measures — "we need confidence in our elections, and we have issues," Masterson said — but the amendment will likely guarantee the bill never becomes law. He said a vote against the amendment — or passing on the vote, as he did — should not be viewed as a vote against the issue.

"It's a vote to save the underlying bill, which I think it's going be a hard, hard lift for us," he said.

Even in a standalone bill, ending the three-day grace period would be a difficult lift for Republicans.

Last year, both the House and Senate had simple majorities supporting Senate Bill 209, which would have ended the three-day grace period without making other election changes. But neither chamber had a supermajority supporting the bill because of a handful of Republicans voted no, so they were unable to override a Kelly veto.

Still, Masterson said he thought it was possible to enact a law that stopped at regulating drop boxes and ending the grace period.

"Those are two things I think we can do, even over a veto," he said. "You put this noose around the neck ... this amendment will put the anchor around this thing."

Steffen said he appreciated Masterson's comments.

"They're an incredibly beautifully verbose commitment to mediocrity, pure and simple," he said.

He said the underlying bill was "a very, very small step."

Only 17 of the 40 senators voted in favor of the amendment, but because seven senators passed, 17 was enough to get it added.

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Republicans fail to change election law on mail ballot deadline