[{"_1":2,"_112":-5,"_113":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88,100],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6387385,"mediaKeyId","2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465","parentId",2116659,"title","Committee on Elections introduces slate of bills on ballot boxes, vacancies, voter rolls and noncitizen screening","audioSeconds",4828,"startMs",44000,"endMs",4872000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465&start=44&end=4872","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465/thumbnail_44000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6387385/Kansas/Committee-on-Elections-introduces-slate-of-bills-on-ballot-boxes-vacancies-voter-rolls-and-noncitizen-screening","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6387385-0ffb9a7a12b9ebef2fc81b518f8433bd/orig.mp4?Expires=1771143984&Signature=Nmktuy1DJwgnRE0KLQHXqRTt5QnUbznr5HphbgUeHfnlNhSMTu-uhXwYNMmHzxsZBKk1wPLpbsqGcPVlCvjqdwwZvYSu0nc-WA7JAf6bKbKEupe9pyhUyL28lXuDTYyc9pgyXon~QTKAEiW6UXP6Rf5o~CNHqzie11yriY9QdW8mMMhhmZgxV2FfMNz3uSezASGcydm9iz-wZZsSKk4ym1d~2dpTeXoSw-ijTZJY6DARIpF~ozik5iWqbV4vFokmikmTMcwHsHTeAY4C1cxgomabt1EQNVm5M7fBh7V4oGjCollNnMeK9V0i3pOiPV-YDQ-jViaQiP9BMBkletYbkQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Committee on Elections, KS","date","2025-01-14T00:00:00Z","article","The Committee on Elections on Jan. 3 introduced a package of election-related draft bills covering ballot-box regulations, vacancy appointments, special-election timing, poll-worker residency, voter-roll maintenance and a Department of Motor Vehicles–Secretary of State data-sharing measure to identify noncitizens for potential removal from voter rolls.

Chair (Committee on Elections) said the bills would be introduced by the committee after no member objected. “Are there any objections to these bills being introduced? Okay. Seeing none, they’ll be introduced by the committee,” the chair said.

The measures listed during the meeting included: RS 0228, which would give the Secretary of State authority to regulate advanced voting ballot boxes; RS 0364 on county commissions appointing county elected officials when a vacancy exists and there is no candidate; RS 0367 on timing of special elections; RS 0268 on permitting military personnel to serve as poll workers even if they are not residents of the district; RS 0114 addressing a candidate seeking nomination by another party after having accepted a party’s nomination; RS 0122 to remove the three-day postselection period for returning mailed advance voting ballots; RS 0158 to allow a private online obituary published by a funeral home to provide grounds for removing a deceased registrant from voter rolls; and RS 0117 (listed as RS o117 in the transcript) to create the election crime of interference with an election official.

Committee members also introduced RS 0410, described as a bill to create a mechanism for the Department of Motor Vehicles to communicate with the Secretary of State’s office to identify and remove noncitizens from voter registration lists. The chair said the committee would consider RS 0410 next week.

At the end of the meeting the chair previewed the committee’s upcoming schedule and said members should expect to hear from Secretary of State Scott Schwab later in the week and to consider a proposed constitutional amendment to clarify that only U.S. citizens may vote in Kansas.

No formal votes were recorded on the measures during this meeting; members introduced the bills and the committee scheduled hearings.

Upcoming schedule: the chair said RS 0410 (DMV–Secretary of State data-sharing) was likely to be heard Tuesday, and a proposed constitutional amendment about citizen-only voting on Thursday. The chair encouraged interested parties to prepare to testify at those hearings.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Committee on Elections 01/14/2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Committee on Elections introduced multiple bills addressing ballot-box rules, vacancy appointments, special-election timing, poll-worker residency, rules for removing deceased registrants and a DMV–Secretary of State data-sharing proposal to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.","taxTitle","Committee on Elections, Standing, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative, Kansas","taxId",18788,"location","Kansas","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6387366,"Attorney who tried federal campaign-finance case warns of overbroad enforcement, subpoenas and constitutional risk",682,2304000,2986000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465&start=2304&end=2986","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465/thumbnail_2304000.jpg","/articles/6387366/Kansas/Attorney-who-tried-federal-campaign-finance-case-warns-of-overbroad-enforcement-subpoenas-and-constitutional-risk","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6387366-2288773d68979cd1fb6decca257e0aa4/orig.mp4?Expires=1771143984&Signature=m2Tw3Q4viNFtxgNE1MkUlHAFzQnJf~jONJ0XtjQtKvts2h1TZF49AChF1jLLrWP9BdEtVTK9QUJNfdN1j5uh5zihHbwSwkwTqebIXJYjAAwo~YMIs787OFFhinv6DwGLYi2V7r46ZDafeN6Sp8lXKQ4PV5A621v6rSzDh-NAIFkGj2w8GpXRFxDchUKQaNfCd9QiVcNTYbcTTUbdS6J9QxXrGzrYF0ALG41094ZM~xXE0vOMBMI0QePZO9jeAyusgHgRAzx1dxP1DbdGLsnS1Fh3ZilXlpbcaC0kasoQu-msyb6SoBLcnhoZAzT99yfeI~nvxz4MFuTqwHL9GScAug__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Josh Nye, a partner at Kriegshauser Nye Law Group and an elected county attorney, told the Committee on Elections that recent enforcement and subpoena practices by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission have been overbroad and have chilled political speech.

“I really do have a soft spot in my heart, not only personally, but also on behalf of my clients,” Nye said, describing a 2019 federal trial in which his client was acquitted and later faced administrative proceedings before the KGEC with substantial legal costs.

Nye said multiple recent court decisions support concerns about the way some Kansas statutes have been applied. He cited a federal district court decision on Jan. 3 that found the PAC-major-purpose application unconstitutional as applied in the Fresh Vision OP case, and a separate August 2024 ruling in Shawnee County that struck a “giving in the name of another” application as unconstitutional as applied by KGEC staff. He said there are at least four related cases pending and that defendants have sought attorney’s fees; he said one county-court matter resulted in an $85,000 award of attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.

Nye criticized the frequency and scope of subpoenas served during the 2022 session, which he described as requesting wide-ranging phone and electronic records tied to political activity. He said that practice has created a “culture of fear” among candidates, consultants and lobbyists and has discouraged routine interactions and speech.

On enforcement, Nye urged the committee to reconsider whether administrative enforcement by an independent agency is the best vehicle for policing campaign-finance rules, suggesting the Legislature consider a clearer role for elected criminal prosecutors in appropriate cases to reduce duplicative proceedings and prolonged administrative litigation.

Nye also urged clearer statutory definitions — particularly for PACs (major-purpose test), coordination and conduit contributions — to provide fair notice to speakers and avoid enforcement-by-litigation. “You got to problem — and I have to answer the voters when I file a case. There’s no way to throw this prosecutor out of office through the ballot box,” Nye said in urging clearer lines on who should enforce campaign-finance laws and how.

Committee members asked questions about what changed to produce the recent wave of litigation and about the balance between administrative rules and court process.

Nye said that in his view, changing interpretations and aggressive enforcement — rather than different statutory language in every instance — explain why previously routine conduct has become the subject of protracted investigations and litigation.","Attorney Josh Nye told the committee that recent KGEC enforcement practices have chilled First Amendment activity, cited recent court rulings that found aspects of the PAC and conduit-contribution rules unconstitutional as applied, and recommended reconsidering enforcement mechanisms and clarity in statute.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6387369,"Kansas Ethics Commission director outlines draft overhaul: PAC rules, coordination, reporting thresholds and subpoena tweaks",881,652000,1533000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465&start=652&end=1533","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465/thumbnail_652000.jpg","/articles/6387369/Kansas/Kansas-Ethics-Commission-director-outlines-draft-overhaul-PAC-rules-coordination-reporting-thresholds-and-subpoena-tweaks","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6387369-2b5c5188ad6f58c5169eef6045e2abee/orig.mp4?Expires=1771143984&Signature=bfywAE3C4UyL2rDRBYkVJQW4m5sL5eYm9FANEMcCP95pO3swgF~RBhg~v~Umr1QGFcKoLPScx0~fY~FeOoJN59k0C2pYf7UIQywcRBz2D0NdrswSCnMAqg9RVbxkh14sBmT9x4kWVqEED1rldKVjLDNlumLi7mE3Q2HbSnnQRZdcqrVRuS1CXIsGO9AMW6lozGtKA2G5xSICH-0cBSJOXpNDUOByrMBPlEMYi3jqWNB2p6cfq9WMBnrKee70~swfSaHQJWdhkEaAN5hf5Jh3~D~qBvsXe8NXHt-VhYbZYH68J3YjdZVXmtXmA3iNFjEfSJ0qYHdPMAlVQ28V5Lvegg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Mark Skoglin, director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission (KGEC), presented a consolidated draft of statutory changes the commission proposes to clarify campaign finance enforcement and reporting.

Skoglin said the draft focuses on clarifying several contested areas from the 2023 interim committee: PAC definitions, coordination rules, reporting thresholds, account termination and subpoena procedure. He told the committee he generally avoided rolling back procedural reforms enacted in 2023 and instead targeted substantive clarifications learned from two years of experience with the new statutes.

On political action committees, Skoglin proposed narrowing or clarifying the major-purpose test and creating a rebuttable presumption that an entity is a political committee if it expends more than $2,500. “It also creates an additional fine to try to deter people from gaming the system,” Skoglin said, describing draft penalties for PACs that fail to register or report.

On reporting thresholds, Skoglin proposed raising the independent-expenditure filing threshold from $100 to $1,000 and making the filing event-based (file within 10 days of the expenditure). He also said the draft would require electronic filing for state-office reports and permit administrative termination of inactive PACs and candidate accounts (for candidates inactive six years after last term or last election).

Skoglin said the draft adds an express-advocacy interpretation: communications issued within 90 days of an election that a reasonable reader would interpret only as advocacy for or against a candidate should be treated as express advocacy. He also proposed clarifying the “giving in the name of another” (conduit contributions) rules and simplifying the paid-for disclaimer statute to include text messages and clearer language for candidates and filers.

On subpoenas, Skoglin proposed allowing the commission to serve a subpoena before filing a district-court enforcement action while preserving the requirement that subpoenas are unenforceable until a court order is obtained — a change he characterized as a technical measure to allow recipients to cooperate without the cost of immediate litigation.

On coordination, Skoglin said the draft borrows concepts from Minnesota’s statute: a shared-vendor rule that treats services as coordinated if the same consultant works for a candidate and for an entity doing express advocacy within 120 days unless a written firewall policy is in place; limitations on the use of nonpublic information; and a definition of candidate participation (requests, suggestions or involvement in content, timing, audience or volume). The draft also lists several safe harbors for routine interactions (use of public information, providing donor names, isolated requests) that by themselves would not constitute coordination.

Skoglin also proposed an exception to civil-fine caps for “willful or wanton” conduct, authorizing penalties up to $15,000 per violation in egregious cases. He emphasized the draft leaves many numeric thresholds adjustable and open to legislative input.

Skoglin said the commission provided the draft text and an indexed spreadsheet to legislators and that materials are posted to the committee’s shared drive and the Legislature’s website.","Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission Director Mark Skoglin presented a draft overhaul of campaign finance statutes, proposing clearer PAC definitions, higher independent-expenditure reporting thresholds, administrative terminations of inactive accounts, subpoena procedure changes and coordination rules modeled on Minnesota.",{"_33":101,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":102,"_41":103,"_43":104,"_45":105,"_47":106,"_49":107,"_51":108,"_53":109,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":110,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":111,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6387380,"Legislative research analyst summarizes interim committee recommendations on campaign finance clarity and contribution limits",403,233000,636000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465&start=233&end=636","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2116659-09cad2c18347a592a2836942b479a465/thumbnail_233000.jpg","/articles/6387380/Kansas/Legislative-research-analyst-summarizes-interim-committee-recommendations-on-campaign-finance-clarity-and-contribution-limits","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6387380-a2a50c9b73daf8dfcd496012f944c6a5/orig.mp4?Expires=1771143984&Signature=nu1wcj4dc7H7YO8KE62K7~kJvPKBH7ztwDCi6RdJKwIACJkx4wnad1gqKsoVPBNBMMpWOUBCDhJulOgPtFS~5-HpbE8qwRxu2EVEtqOn8ttlVZWooxh3AyNfosS4O-89VpES0RwjzKX5A5yeXxzp4ixvQ9WXnksqw7Ka1afRQED5HUUmXsjbRhsG7jcimlhKA~dWFL7apansILOE2Xk~RNqPItvBHNI-KlADay2lJINWWU3CDav2e69DFJ-P1dHlbGvXQPdCNcpKE~0W09o8WOW8jCsPWSaoyLRoDQVpPMx5pnHNnmSRsYGx~PWUqsh08SSebmNKJj0gf~9VzqSBHg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Elena Rudder, senior research analyst for the Legislative Research Department, gave the committee a brief overview of the 2023 special committee on governmental ethics reform’s report and its recommendations for campaign finance changes.

“The committee recommended defining the term ‘coordination,’ clarifying the definition of ‘giving in the name of another’ or ‘contribution in the name of another’ and clarifying the definition of ‘political committee or political action committee or PAC,’” Rudder said. She said the committee also recommended considering increases to contribution limits.

Rudder summarized the interim committee’s activities, noting a presentation from Professor John McGinnis of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law that reviewed Supreme Court precedent including Buckley v. Valeo and urged clear statutory distinctions between independent expenditures and coordinated expenditures. She said the interim committee heard from the governor’s chief of staff, who supported transparency, limits on campaign contributions and considered increasing contribution limits or making party limits unlimited with safeguards to protect primaries.

Rudder said the committee heard public comment from 10 conferees — with two providing written testimony — covering concerns about vague statutory definitions, disclosure thresholds, transparency and contribution limits. The executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission presented on the commission’s role, investigations and legislative recommendations. The Institute for Free Speech presented recommendations that included indexing contribution limits to inflation, raising disclosure thresholds and avoiding regulation of grassroots advocacy.

Rudder closed by noting the interim report reiterates its conclusions and recommendations and that the materials are available on the legislature’s website and the committee’s shared drive.","A senior research analyst briefed the Committee on Elections about the 2023 special committee on governmental ethics reform, recommending clearer statutory definitions (coordination, giving in the name of another, PAC), consideration of higher contribution limits, and alignment with federal guidance where appropriate.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Committee on Elections introduces slate of bills on ballot boxes, vacancies, voter rolls and noncitizen screening

Attorney who tried federal campaign-finance case warns of overbroad enforcement, subpoenas and constitutional risk

Kansas Ethics Commission director outlines draft overhaul: PAC rules, coordination, reporting thresholds and subpoena tweaks

Legislative research analyst summarizes interim committee recommendations on campaign finance clarity and contribution limits