TOPEKA — More than twice the number of advance by-mail ballot applications have been processed in Kansas compared to the 2016 and 2018 general elections, sparked primarily by pandemic concerns.
As of Oct. 1, election offices had received nearly 400,000 mail-in ballot applications, far exceeding the 194,505 sent by mail in 2018 and 202,138 in 2016, said Katie Koupal, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Scott Schwab.
With the Oct. 27 deadline to apply for mail-in ballots still several weeks away, she said applications could exceed 500,000.
Koupal said despite a relatively seamless process in the primary election, election officials are staying alert. She also offered advice for those voting by mail.
“We will continue to prepare for a variety of scenarios for the November election, but we do not expect any delays,” Koupal said. “If you want to vote by casting an advance by-mail ballot, request one now — don’t wait until the last minute.”
Amid the pandemic, many Kansas voters are again turning to by-mail voting this general election to cast their ballot, despite rhetoric about voter fraud and discarded ballots. Such criminal behavior is extremely rare.
Koupal projected turnout for the Kansas general election turnout be in the range of 65% to 70%, like previous presidential election cycles. She said of the 105 counties, only six had yet to process any by-mail applications.
Fifty-six counties have received by-mail ballot applications exceeding 10% of all registered voters, 16 counties have exceeded 20% and three counties — Douglas, Trego and Harvey — have exceeded 30%.
Johnson County, with 124,006, and Sedgwick County, with 82,928, account for more than 50% of all applications processed so far.
In the run-up to the primary election and now the general election, President Donald Trump has repeatedly called into question the legitimacy of by-mail voting, calling them fraudulent and suggesting they would cause mayhem on Election Day.
Voter fraud, however, is incredibly rare. In 2017, The Brennan Center for Justice ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004% to 0.0009%. According to the AP’s recent fact check of Trump, there have been no major cases of fraud in the five states that regularly send ballots to voters.
Trump’s rhetoric, coupled with record numbers of by-mail ballot disqualifications during the primary election, has caused concern over what may happen in November when even more ballots are cast nationwide.
Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas, said he does not expect disqualified ballots to be a significant issue in Kansas.
“I don’t think we’ve really seen that politicization of mail-in voting here in Kansas, very strongly,” Miller said. “The thing to remember though is that Donald Trump does not determine whether your mail-in ballots get counted. In Kansas, we have election officials that decide that.”
Miller said with the unprecedented number of by-mail ballots this general election, voters should not be concerned if results are not finalized on election night.
“We are used to this culture of being able to project on election night, who’s going to win, but we’re not going to be able to necessarily do that this year,” Miller said.
