The Johnson County Election Office will get some security improvements this year, due to its participation in a grant program offered through the Kansas Secretary of State’s office.
The security measures are mostly related to equipment storage and internal procedures on access to voting equipment, although there may also be changes in a few public-facing areas like front entrances and counters, said county Election Commissioner Fred Sherman.
Specifics of the security upgrades were not outlined at the Thursday meeting of the county commission, where the grant spending was unanimously approved with limited discussion.
The Secretary of State’s office, which oversees elections, had offered counties throughout the state a partial reimbursement to upgrade security so they could meet its revised regulations on equipment storage and access.
Election commissioner: Ballot storage already ‘very secure’
Updates to the secretary’s administrative regulations require enhanced security of voting equipment storage, for instance with passwords, digital record keeping and two-person access, Sherman said. For some smaller counties, those requirements will be a major change in the way equipment is stored, he said.
In Johnson County’s case, storage is “very secure,” Sherman said afterward. “It’s not that we’re not secure already,” he said, but the grant will allow some in-office upgrades related to access.
Sherman also said the storage of election documents since 2019 and equipment that Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has asked the county to hold onto has not been a storage problem for the county. County Sheriff Calvin Hayden had asked the records not be destroyed as scheduled because of his investigation into election processes.
The commission approved a $318,350 project for security enhancement, with 90% being reimbursed by the grant. The grant will cover $286,515 with another $31,385 coming from county election office funds.
Roxie Hammill is a freelance journalist who reports frequently for the Post and other Kansas City area publications. You can reach her at roxieham@gmail.com.
