Recent Kansas editorials

The Topeka Capital-Journal, Aug. 9

Colyer-Kobach total shows every vote counts

One hundred and twenty-one votes. That was the margin, which continued to fluctuate, separating Gov. Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach for the GOP gubernatorial nomination Thursday, with thousands of provisional ballots left to count.

One hundred and twenty-one votes. That was down from 191 separating the two men, an erroneous tally generated in the heat of election night. For comparison’s sake, some 311,000 overall votes were cast in the primary.

One hundred and twenty-one votes.

Anytime you may believe that your vote doesn’t matter, remember this race. Anytime you hear a friend or relative suggest that elections are a waste of time, remember this race. Anytime you harbor doubts about the importance of civic participation and turning out to vote in each and every election, every single time - remember this race.

Almost all of us know several dozen people, some of us hundreds. A handful of dedicated Kansans, motivated to bring every single one of their friends to the polls, could have changed the outcome of this particular race.

One hundred and twenty-one votes.

Kansas has 1.8 million registered voters. That means 0.006 percent of them made the difference in this preliminary count. Again, for comparison’s sake, there are 125 representatives in the Kansas House - more than enough souls to change the outcome.

We too often take for granted the ability to vote in free and fair elections. But those in other countries who don’t have that opportunity would have much to teach those of us who don’t turn out and don’t speak up. There’s no excuse not to vote, especially when so much is at stake for our state in every election. We only have to look at the last governor and his tax and education policies to understand that.

One hundred and twenty-one votes.

The irony doesn’t escape us either that this margin, and this changing count, is happening on the watch of Kobach. He has worked diligently to tighten voter registration laws and pursue purported cases of voter fraud. Perhaps if he had concentrated more on making it easier and more convenient to cast a ballot, he wouldn’t be sweating such a tight race.

Regardless, we all have the ability to register and keep that registration current. It may be more or less work depending on the official in power, but each of us owes it to our fellow Kansans. If they don’t vote, our votes have to count for them.

One hundred and twenty-one votes.

Don’t forget this primary election or what it means. Every one of us can make a difference.

_____

The Lawrence Journal-World, Aug. 12

Fractured GOP is still favored

Last week’s Kansas primaries revealed just how fractured the state’s Republican party is.

Consider this - Republicans are on the precipice of ousting a sitting governor in a party primary for the first time since 1954 in favor of a conservative lightning rod whom the Republican Governors Association doesn’t want as a candidate. And yet the GOP remains the favorite to retain its hold on the governor’s office, no matter who eventually emerges from the primary.

There’s an old saying that Democrats want to fall in love, while Republicans want to fall in line. Well, someone forgot to tell Jim Barnett, Ken Selzer and most of all, Kris Kobach, to get in line. The decision by the three veteran Republicans to challenge their party’s state leader has left incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer in a 121-vote hole to Kobach with thousands of provisional and mail-in ballots still to count.

If Barnett or Selzer had stepped aside, it seems Colyer would have cruised to a primary win in more of a head-to-head matchup with Kobach. But the party is still smarting over the internal divisions created by Sam Brownback’s run as governor. Colyer, who took over last December when Brownback was appointed to an ambassador role in the Trump administration, has tried to walk the fine line between moderates and conservatives as a sort of “Brownback lite” candidate. But moderates aren’t buying that Colyer, Brownback’s lieutenant governor for seven years, is all that different from the governor he served. That perception allowed Barnett and Selzer to peel off 17 percent - more than 50,000 votes - of the ballots cast in the primary.

Kobach is a conservative firebrand who has built his resume by touting some of the nation’s most restrictive voter registration policies and targeting immigrants. His fiscal and social leanings are right of Brownback, so much so that the Republican Governors Association fears that a Kobach primary win would make vulnerable what was thought to be among the GOP’s safest governorships.

Colyer could certainly still win - 121 votes isn’t a lot to make up and many believe the mail-in ballots left to count favor the governor. But Kobach has the lead and thus remains the favorite.

The good news for Republicans? Their candidate will face two major candidates in November, Democrat Laura Kelly, a state senator from Topeka who cruised to a primary win, and Independent Greg Orman, a businessman from Johnson County who last week turned in a petition with twice as many signatures as needed to get on the ballot.

In the 2016 election, the state’s party affiliation broke out 44.4 percent Republican, 24.7 percent Democrat and 29.9 percent unaffiliated or independent. That’s a healthy advantage for the GOP in a three-way race. It will be difficult for Orman, who ran a close race as an independent against Republican Sen. Pat Roberts in 2014, or Kelly to overcome that Republican advantage when they’re competing with one another for votes from Democrats and independents.

Tuesday’s primary showed Republicans are divided over the direction of their party. But the way things are unfolding, they still have the inside track to retaining the governor’s office.

____

The Kansas City Star, Aug. 10

Here’s how to ensure the Kris Kobach recount debacle doesn’t happen again in Kansas

Kansas lawmakers who care about fair and free elections will have work to do next year.

The razor-thin primary contest between Gov. Jeff Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach has exposed flaws in election rules - issues that, if left unaddressed, will further erode Kansans’ confidence in the electoral system.

The most important reform is ending the absurd practice of allowing the secretary of state to appoint election commissioners in four Kansas counties: Johnson, Wyandotte, Sedgwick and Shawnee.

There is no legitimate reason the secretary of state should have this power. Every other Kansas county picks its own election supervisor - the county clerk. For no good reason, in the state’s most populated counties, the power rests in Topeka.

That has led to serious budget misunderstandings between election officers and taxpayers who foot the bill. It also has led to a whiff of political patronage: Johnson County Election Commissioner Ronnie Metsker, who has overseen two election night failures, was a former chairman of the Republican Party in the county.

Kobach, of course, is a Republican. It’s not unreasonable to question whether politics were involved in that pick.

It gets worse. Metsker’s term ends at the end of August, state records show. That means Kobach can determine if Metsker stays or goes smack in the middle of a possible recount involving Johnson County.

Or Kobach could extend Metsker’s job for days or weeks, perhaps past the election. Either way, in the current climate, it’s hard to imagine a greater conflict of interest.

Some have suggested that the county commission should appoint an election commissioner, but county commissions are political bodies, too. They are not exempt from partisan influences - or wacky decisions. The best answer may be to give the power to the county manager or executive, perhaps subject to commission approval.

Kansas City has a four-member oversight board appointed by the governor, two from each party. They pick the two election directors, a Democrat and a Republican. That may be a model for Kansas.

Other repairs will be simple. While Kobach did the right thing by promising to recuse himself from general supervision of the ballot count, the issue should have never come up. Kansas law should require candidates involved in potential recounts to step away from any involvement in the process.

Secretaries of state often supervise elections in which they’re candidates, which is worrisome. At the same time, someone at the state level must perform that role. The secretary of state is usually qualified to do so.

Recounts are another matter. Even the appearance of interference - which surfaced this week - must be avoided. If a contest involving the secretary of state heads to a recount, recusal should be mandatory.

Kansas lawmakers also should review the state’s rules for recounts. In primaries, a candidate requesting a recount must post a bond the cover the potential costs. In the general election, if the margin is less than one-half of one percent, the state pays.

Why the discrepancy? If any election is close enough for a recount, the state should pay. A fair election should not depend on a candidate’s bank account.

Other reform ideas are welcome. This much is clear: Kansans’ faith in elected government has been tested by the Kobach-Colyer primary debacle. It can be restored by getting the secretary of state’s office out of the business of controlling local elections or overseeing their own recounts.