OLATHE, Ks. — The Johnson County election office has seen a surge in phone calls from voters over recent mail-in ballot applications showing up in their mail from a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC.
"In about a day and a half we got over 600 phone calls specifically about the mailer," says election commissioner Connie Schmidt.
The Center for Voter Information says it has sent out more than 800,000 mail-in ballot applications to voters in Kansas. The applications, they say, "are the same official ballot applications as those sent by Kansas election officials," and added that "we provided samples of the ballot applications to the Kansas Secretary of State’s office last month, and received assurances that they comply with all state laws," a statement reads when 41 Action News requested comment for this story.
"Well the voters are first of all confused because the return address is Springfield, Missouri and it’s being sent to voters in Johnson County, Kansas. Voters are very tuned in today so that was their first caution that it didn’t come from Kansas or our office, even though it had a return envelope with our mailing address on it, it caused the voters to be suspicious and concerned," Schmidt says.
"We want to tell our voters that if they already applied for a mail-in ballot for the November election, and we sent a flyer to everybody back in June, and so we already have over 100,000 of those in the building for the November election so if you sent one in, even though it was back in June, don’t send another one, because that creates additional work and more dollars for the county taxpayers to process all these applications," Schmidt continued.
The Kansas primary saw a surge in mail-in voting in Johnson County - more than 86,000 ballots were sent in and successfully counted, according to election officials. Ballots for the November 3 general election go out to voters on October 14.
"You can use our drive-through drop box, take it to any in person early voting location, or take it to any polling place on Election Day. Plus we’re going to be receiving right now seven additional drop boxes from the Secretary of State’s office, we’re hoping to add to that number and place them strategically around the county to make it more convenient if voters are a little more cautious about putting them in the mail, they can drop it in a Johnson County election office drop box and get it straight to us," Schmidt says.
The Center for Voter Information's full statement is below:
"The Center for Voter Information (CVI) is a non-partisan and non-profit group based in Washington, DC. This month, CVI has sent more than 800,000 Vote-By-Mail ballot applications to registered voters in Kansas. About 50,000 Kansas voters have already “returned” these Vote-By-Mail applications to local election offices, taking the first step towards safely voting at home. These Vote-By-Mail applications are the same official ballot applications as those sent by Kansas election officials. In fact, we provided samples of the ballot applications to the Kansas Secretary of State’s office last month, and received assurances that they comply with all state laws.
CVI primarily sends mailings to members of the Rising American Electorate—people of color, young people and unmarried women, many of whom have historically been under-represented in our democracy.
With COVID-19 impacting elections, we have a responsibility to do all we can to safely increase voter turnout amid this uncertain time. We feel it is vital to keep voters safe and to bring democracy to eligible voters’ doorsteps. Since we are nonpartisan, we do not send mailers based on party affiliation. We care IF you vote, but not HOW you vote. With our partners, we have successfully generated more than 2.5 million Vote-By-Mail applications across the country this year alone. In our history, we are proud to report that we have helped more than 5 million people register to vote.
In 2020, we are working in tandem with county and state election officials around the country to make sure that eligible voters have a chance to safely participate in democracy. There’s never been a more important time to register to vote, and to know the options for voting before and on Election Day.”
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