The Kansas Legislature’s bipartisan auditing committee voted to issue a subpoena to compel the Ford County clerk to cooperate with the state’s security examination of voting-related documentation and equipment used in the 2022 general election. House and Senate members participating in the committee meeting Monday took the extraordinary step of immediately relaunching the election security audit investigation that had been stalled long ago by Ford County Clerk Debbie Cox. The committee directed Cox to comply with audit team information requests helpful in evaluating accuracy of voting machines relied on during the statewide election two years ago. In addition, Cox must provide auditors access by Aug. 14 to storage units, ballots and devices used to count votes in that election. Rep. Shannon Francis, a Republican from Liberal in southwest Kansas, offered the motion to affirm the post-auditing staff’s authority to investigate Ford County’s election processes. He proposed a separate motion triggering Article 10, Chapter 46 of Kansas statute that outlined how investigating committees could use power of a subpoena to compel individuals to cooperate with audits. Both motions were approved without debate. When the Division of Post Audit initiated a 15-county review of election security standards, they discovered Ford and Chase county officials sealed most election documents in the same containers with original paper ballots. The practice of locking away ballot activity documents or equipment transfer records in containers with ballots didn’t comply with the Kansas Open Records Act mandating retention and inspection of certain election-related records.
In addition, Ford County refused to let the Legislature’s auditors inspect the county’s election management computer. That meant auditors couldn’t determine whether the election computer was properly disconnected from the internet or had non-election software installed on it.
Source: Dodge City Daily Globe

Dodge City has always been a melting pot of diversity, and the documentary titled “Under Five Flags,” which premiered on Thursday, Aug. 1 at the Boot Hill Museum Mariah Gallery, reflects this rich history. Tracing history, the short film reveals how Ford County has been governed by five different flags in its history: France, Spain, the Republic of Texas, Mexico, and the United States. A collaborative effort between various organizations, including Humanities Kansas, Dodge City Community College (DC3), the City of Dodge City’s Cultural Relations Advisory Board, Main Street Dodge City, and Boot Hill Museum, the documentary condenses more than 500 years of history into a 13-minute film. Following the screening, a panel of experts and the film’s historians took the stage to answer questions and discuss the film. Included on the panel were Holly Mercer, DC3 Library Director; Melissa McCoy, Dodge City Assistant City Manager of Public Affairs and staff person for the Cultural Relations Advisory Board; Coral Lopez, Main Street Dodge City Director; Keith Wondra, Boot Hill Museum Curator of Exhibits and Interpretation; and Dr. Leo Oliva, Kansas historian, who served as a consultant for this Humanities Kansas project.
Source: Dodge City Daily Globe