A House committee has scheduled a hearing Thursday on a bill that would allow Sedgwick County to establish vote centers for the 2020 elections, allowing voters to cast a ballot at any location on election day.
Sedgwick County election commissioner Tabitha Lehman told county commissioners Wednesday that she would have to speak against the bill, because of new procedures that have just been announced by the Kansas secretary of state’s office. Lehman said the changes will have a significant impact on day-to-day operations in her office, because it creates a separate, locked-down system for access to a statewide voter registration database.
Lawmakers approved a bill last year to allow for voting at any location, but secretary of state Scott Schwab said his office will be unable to make that happen in 2020 because of the changes in procedures and systems that will be required. The bill under consideration in the House this year would allow Sedgwick County to move ahead with the process.
(Read more: KFDI 101.3)